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A 







The Forest Tj-pes of the United States 



Frontispiece 



The Valuation 

of 

American Timberlands 



BY 
K. W. WOODWARD 

Professor of Forestry, New Hampshire College. Formerly 
Forest Inspector, U. S. Forest Service 



NEW YORK 

JOHN WILEY & SONS, Inc. 

London: CHAPMAN & HALL, Limited 

1921 




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COPYMGHT, 19 2 1, 

BY 

K. W. WOODWARD 



DEC 10 1921 



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TECHNICAL COMPOSITION CO. 
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., U. S. A. 



g)C!.A6530i54 



To 

DR. BERNHARD E. FERNOW 

IN GRATITCTDE FOR HIS HELP AND ENCOURAGEMENT AND 
ADMIRATION OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS 



PREFACE 

This book is intended to supply certain information needed 
by the investor, timber cruiser and student of forestry. In other 
words, it aims to give for the continental United States and its 
outlying territories the principal facts regarding the timber 
resources. Hawaii has been omitted because its timber is useful 
mainly for its protective value and cutting in the commercial 
sense is only possible on a very limited scale. Likewise, the Canal 
Zone is not attractive to either the sawmill man or timberland 
investor by reason of the restricted area of American territory. 

The investor will find data which will not only enable him to 
form a notion of what the examination of a tract should cost but 
he should also get the salient features of the general type of which 
his particular holdings are but a small part. This work tries 
to give those basic facts upon which a superstructure of detailed 
knowledge concerning a particular tract may safely be erected. 

To the estimator or timber cruiser, likewise, it cannot take 
the place of first-hand observation as far as the appraisal of any 
given area is concerned. It should, however, show him what to 
look for and help him to keep that sense of proportion without 
which his reports may easily give a wholly wrong impression. 

For the student of forestry it should fill an additional purpose. 
Few attempts have previously been made to gather together in 
one volume descriptions of the forest types of the United States. 
We have simply had detailed studies of isolated regions. With 
these latter as a basis, however, an attempt is here made to evalu- 
ate American forest conditions and compare the forest types with 
each other. This leads inevitably to the application of the 
principles which the student has learned in his courses in protec- 
tion, silviculture, utiHzation and management. In other words, 
it is hoped he may here acquire some of the local color necessary 
to give vividness to the framework of fundamentals he has con- 



vi PREFACE 

structcd in the classroom. The book was written to serve as 
supplementary reading in this way. 

A forest type as here used is an area which has essentially the 
same chmatic, topographic, and soil conditions, and hence tends 
in the long run to have the same composition. A subtype is a 
subdivision of a forest type in which the composition is uniform. 

A word of explanation seems necessary in regard to prices now 
that the War has so radically disturbed all our preconceptions 
of market values. Obviously it is impossible to keep such a work 
as this absolutely up to date. Care has, however, been taken to 
give dates for all prices cited as that proper allowance may be 
made. In general it may be said that the prices of 1920 are 
roughly double those of 191 5. Furthermore, wherever possible, 
costs are expressed in terms of man and horse hours as well as 
dollars. 

Acknowledgment is, of course, due the Forest Service for its 
courtesy in allowing the free use of its large store of data. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Page 

I. Northern Spruce Type i 

II. Northern Hardwood Type i6 

III. White Pine Type 29 

IV. Swamp Type 48 

V. Southeastern Pine Type 52 

VI. Southern Bottomlands 6i 

VII. Southern Hardwoods 71 

Vni. Pinon-Juniper Type 81 

IX. Chapparal 84 

X. Western Yellow Pine Type 87 

XI. Lodgepole Pine Type 95 

XII. Engelmann Spruce Type 99 

XIII. Silver Pine Type 104 

XIV. Sugar Pine Type 112 

XV. Redwood Type 122 

XVI. Sequoia Type 128 

XVII. Douglas Flr Type 129 

XVIII. Alaska 138 

XIX. Porto Rico 148 

XX. Philippines 152 

XXI. Timber Valuation 163 

XXII. Land Valuation 219 

XXIII. Titles 230 

XXIV. Outline for a Report on a Tract of Woodland 238 



CHAPTER I 
NORTHERN SPRUCE TYPE 

General Conditions. — To this type of timberland belong the 
North Woods of Maine, the upper slopes of the White Mountains, 
the higher Green Mountains, the summits of the Adirondack and 
Catskill Mountains, and the northern swampy parts of Michigan, 
Wisconsin and Minnesota. Furthermore, a slender string of 
isolated spruce-clad peaks extends southward along the backbone 
of the Appalachian range and consequently some spruce is found 
in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina and 
Tennessee. The distribution of the type is shown graphically 
on the accompanying map. 

Thruout its range spruce is most abundant in a cool, moist 
climate with long winters and heavy precipitation. Seldom is 
the growing season more than four months long and the annual 
precipitation must be at least 40 inches or supplemented by slow 
drainage. This means that there is an abundance of moisture 
available for tree growth because the long winters inhibit runoff 
and the cool summers are unfavorable to rapid evaporation. 

These climatic conditions only occur on the steeper upper slopes 
of mountains and in flat swamp land. On both sites the soil is 
shallow but the spruce is well able to make the most of the scant 
foothold with its flat, widely extended root system. Likewise 
its common associates are trees of similar habit like the balsam, 
paper birch and yellow birch. However, by reason of its greater 
adaptability to such untoward conditions, spruce tends to crowd 
out its competitors and form nearly pure stands if given time 
enough. Hence the subtypes are generally transition types 
caused by fire or cutting. The more imporant of these and their 
composition by volume and number are: 



NORTHERN SPRUCE TYPE 
COMPOSITION OF SUBTYPES — SPRUCE TYPE 



Species 


Virgin subtype 


Cutover subtype 


Burn subtype 


Number 


Volume 


Number 


Number 




Per cent 

60 

30 
10 


Per cent 
80 
10 
10 


Per cent 

10 

15 
40 

35 


Per cent 
10 


Balsam 

Paper Birch. . . . 


IS 
30 
45 










100 


100 


100 


ICX3 



The virgin subtype varies considerably in composition with the 
altitude. At the upper edge of merchantable growth there is a 
large admixture of balsam, while at the lower edge where it 
merges into the hardwood type yellow birch and paper birch are 
the important associate species. The composition percentages 
given above are most representative of conditions in the middle 
of the altitudinal range of the type. There spruce is the dom- 
inant species, numerically and in volume, while balsam, paper 
birch and yellow birch are merely unimportant associates. An 
average stand is loM feet B. M. per acre although stands of 
20 or 30M are not uncommon. In the virgin subtype little 
damage is the rule, not because there are no serious enemies but 
for the reason that fire, insects and wind may wipe the subt3rpe 
out, but they seldom affect it in a moderate degree. It is a case 
of total immunity or complete destruction. When the subtype 
is dry enough to burn the fire usually kills the young trees, 
jumps to the crowns of the older timber, and also eats up the 
shallow layer of soil. In the same way wind makes wide swaths 
or throws over the timber on entire mountain slopes if it once 
gets a leverage on a stand of spruce. Likewise, the great 
insect enemy of this species, the spruce beetle {Dendroctonus 
piceaperda) is a believer in no halfway measures. Working in 
large colonies it systematically kills all the timber that comes 
in its way. Fortunately little fungus damage occurs in this 
subtype. 

The culled, cutover and burned subtypes are the result of 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 3 

various degrees of lumbering and neglect on the virgin subtype. 
The culled stands are few for two reasons. In the first place 
even the early logging was comparatively clean because where it 
paid to cut the spruce on the upper slopes at all it was worth 
while taking nearly all the stand because it was of uniform size. 
The most recent logging has, of course, been clean because the 
demand for pulpwood furnished a market for all material down 
to a top diameter of four inches inside the bark. Furthermore in 
cases where culling has been attempted in the virgin spruce sub- 
type much blowdown has invariably resulted and the final out- 
come been identical with clean cutting. 

The cutover subtype is then the most common where the logger 
has reached the spruce type. Even the paper birch has often 
been cut in order that the spruce and balsam might be rolled down 
over it. As a result this subtype is usually completely stripped 
of its standing trees. What cannot be marketed is left to rot 
on the ground. Fortunately, however, tree growth quickly 
reestablishes itself if fire is kept out. First, pin cherry and paper 
birch take possession of the ground and then spruce and balsam 
come up under their shade. If given time enough the two latter 
species distance the two first-named short-lived trees and the 
stand becomes nearly pure softwood. Furthermore, competition 
between the spruce and balsam is commonly more favorable to 
the former because of its greater persistence. The balsam is 
very subject to heart rot — Polyporus schweinitzii — and it is 
rare that a tree over 15 inches in diameter survives. 

The restocking of the burned subtype is not rapid since fire is 
peculiarly destructive in the spruce type. Usually the weather 
is too cool and moist to permit fires to start but in droughts the 
thick layer of humus becomes very inflammable. Especially is 
this the case where logging has opened up the stand and left 
debris. Some of the most destructive fires in the unusually 
lurid forest-fire history of the American continent have been in 
the spruce type. Such fires are combined top fires and ground 
fires. Everything is consumed and only the bare rocks are left. 
Examples of the results of such fires are furnished by the bald 
summits of Monadnock, Chocorua and Baldface in the White 



NORTHERN SPRUCE TYPE 



Mountains and the recently cutover and burnt slopes of Mt. 
Mitchell in North Carolina. 

OPTIMUM GROWTH IN loo YEARS 



Spruce 

Balsam. . . . 
Paper birch. 



Diameter 



Inches 
lO 
II 



Height 



Feet 
70 
83 



Density 



Trees 
415 



Yield per acre 



Board feet 
7400 

5500 



This table shows the optimum diameter and height growth for 
the important species in this type on a rotation of 100 years. The 
density and yield per acre are also given. From these it is 
evident that the short growing season is not favorable to rapid 
diameter and height growth and that the stands per acre are 
only heavy by reason of the great density of the trees. There is 
a marked difference between the northern spruce and southern 
Appalachian spruce. The latter grows faster in diameter and 
height but the trees do not stand so close together. Generally 
speaking the most profitable rotation for this type is at least 
125 years. 

Timber Valuation. — There are several factors which make 
estimating in the spruce type comparatively easy. The tracts 
are usually large so that boundary difficulties are not serious. 
Furthermore, the stands are uniform, the species few and damage 
slight. On the other hand the tracts are usually inaccessible so 
that the cost of subsisting an estimating party is high. Supplies 
frequently have to be brought in on men's backs because horses 
cannot be used off the roads. Even these are in many cases 
impracticable for hauUng except when covered with snow. 
Another obstacle to cheap work is the roughness of the mountain 
slopes upon which the spruce grows and the density of the under- 
growth. As a consequence an average day's work in this type 
is 24 strip acres — i chain (66 feet) wide and 240 chains long. 
However, only a small percentage of the tract need be actually 
covered in this way. Only on very small tracts is more than a 



TIMBER VALUATION 5 

lo per cent estimate necessary. Ordinarily 5 to lo per cent is 
sufficient because the tracts are large — over 500 acres — and 
the subtypes uniform in composition and density. 

On account of the lack of roads and trails it is frequently diffi- 
cult to lind a suitable place for a base line from which to run the 
estimating strips. Usually, however, roads or trails are better 
than survey lines because they are easier to travel. When 
selected the base line should be surveyed and stakes set at equi- 
distant points, measured in a cardinal direction and not along 
the base line. In fact the distance along the trail used may be 
several times that in a cardinal direction on account of the twists 
the trail makes to avoid rough going. From the stakes on the 
base Une the estimate strips should be run across the valleys, 
preferably in a cardinal direction. The object in running them 
across the valleys is to avoid an overestimate by getting an undue 
proportion of the better timber in the valley bottoms. By using 
a cardinal direction possible compass errors are avoided because 
it is much easier to keep the Hne straight when a cardinal direction 
is used than when the lines are run at an angle less than 90 degrees. 

This strip method of estimating is, of course, not the only way 
to determine the contents of a stand. It is, however, generally 
considered the best and its costs may fairly be considered stand- 
ard. Obviously an experienced local estimator does not need to 
traverse a tract as carefully as one unfamiliar with the local 
conditions. He relies on his judgment more because he has had 
an opportunity to check it by the results of local logging. But 
his fees are based on the cost of a strip survey. 

For spruce and balsam pulpwood is the use to which the 
smallest timber can be put so that the minimum merchantable 
limits for these species are determined by the sizes which the 
pulp mills will take. The present minimum standard is a stick 
four feet long and at least four inches in diameter at the top end. 
Since at least two such sticks must be obtained from a tree to 
pay for felHng, trees less than six inches in diameter breast-high 
are considered unmerchantable. For sawtimber alone the 
limits are higher. At least six inches in the top and 10 inches 
breast-high are the usual requirements. Suitable tables giving 



6 NORTHERN SPRUCE TYPE 

the volume either in cubic feet or board feet will be found in 
Hawley and Hawes' "Manual of Forestry," John Wiley and 
Sons, Inc., New York City. Only tables based on diameter 
breast-high and total or used lengths should be employed because 
there is great variation in the height of both spruce and balsam 
according to the depth of the soil. 

For the other important species in this type, paper birch, yel- 
low birch, beech and sugar maple, volume tables will also be 
found in the Manual of Forestry. With them total height is an 
unreliable factor and only usable length is a safe indication of 
their merchantability. This may be estimated in either i6 feet 
log lengths or in units of lo feet according to the volum'' table 
and the way in which it is worked up. 

The cost of estimating spruce tracts is determined first of all 
by the percentage of the stand estimated. As explained above 
this need seldom be more than lo per cent on account of the 
uniformity of the stands. The second factor, roughness of topog- 
raphy, cuts down the area possible for a crew to cover in a day. 
However, 24 strip acres is a reasonable average day's work. 
Hence the work ought not to cost more than 15 cents an acre 
and can frequently be done for half that figure. This should 
include the preparation of a report showing the amount, quality 
and value of the timber, the way in which it can be logged and 
a contour map of the tract, 

Stumpage Prices. — Stumpage prices tend to approach the 
difference between the cost of logging and manufacture and the 
average sale value of the lumber. Fluctuations in these factors 
are not, however, reflected at once in the stumpage prices. They 
are inclined to drag behind the increases in lumber prices and be 
unaffected by declines. This is well brought out by the follow- 
ing figures from Compton's ''Organization of the Lumber 
Industry": 

Average Stumpage Values for Spruce 

PerM 

1890 $1 74 

1899 2.26 

1904 370 

1907 .';.49 



STUMPAGE PRICES 7 

Hence, for the calculation of future prices such figures can only 
be used as a check and guide. The costs of the different steps 
in logging and manufacturing must be known for each tract and 
the sum of these plus a margin of safety deducted from the aver- 
age sale value. This requires a knowledge of the methods of 
lumbering and sawmilling and makes necessary their description 
in some detail. 

On account of the inaccessibility of the spruce stands logging 
jobs are almost invariably carried on by large camps located 
close to the place of cutting and only connected with the outside 
world by a slender thread, the rough tote road. Spruce stands 
are usually in mountainous regions where farms cannot be hewn 
out of the wilderness. Consequently their logging is no job for 
the farmer's spare time. If he does it at all he must go back 
into the mountains, build a camp and stay with the job with 
single-hearted devotion. As a matter of fact the typical opera- 
tion is a large one in which the camps house 30 to 60 men and 
such a one will be described to give a notion of the methods 
employed. 

The first step is the estimate of the watershed or valleys to be 
logged and the accumulation of sufiicient topographic data to 
determine where the main roads must go, whether driving can be 
employed and the approximate cost of logging. This information 
should be secured by the estimators. The figures given above 
for the cost of estimating contemplate a report which should cover 
the following points : — 

Amount of timber by logging units. 

Quality of timber by logging units. 

Topographic data (preferably in the form of a contour map). 

Logging costs by principal watersheds. 

Method of sawmilling and estimate of cost. 

Estimated sale value of finished product. 

Such a report enables a lumber company to plan its own opera- 
tions intelligently or let contracts wdth exactness. The latter 
method is more common in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont 
and New York because there are many jobbers who possess great 



8 NORTHERN SPRUCE TYPE 

skill in this work. In fact they are generally able to log more 
cheaply than the lumber companies themselves because their 
supervision is closer, their overhead expenses are small, they 
make scant allowance for depreciation or interest on investment 
and are content with small returns per thousand feet. In the 
southern spruce regions conditions are different. Seldom have 
the local inhabitants acquired the experience necessary to con- 
tract for themselves so that the lumber companies are forced to 
run their own camps. For simplicity's sake a contract job in the 
Maine woods will be taken as the type and after it has been 
described local variations in other parts of the country pointed out. 
Assume then that Bill Jones contracted in 1914 to yard on the 
river bank of the nearest drivable stream two million feet of spruce 
and balsam. Since the haul from the stump to the yard was 
only four miles he agreed to do it for $5 per M. He needed a crew 
of 60 men and started felling by October i in order to get the 
timber down and skidded before the deep snows came. For his 
labor he hired his neighbors as far as possible and then filled in 
with French Canadians who came south for the winter after the 
Canadian harvest had been garnered. A picked crew of choppers 
was first sent into the woods to build camps and clean out the 
roads. Then the main crew came in. It was divided up into 
choppers, teamsters for the skidding teams, tote teamsters, barn 
tenders, a cook and cookees, a blacksmith, a scaler, camp clerk. 

The first job was to fell the timber and bunch it up for hauling 
on two sleds. The methods employed varied with the steepness 
of the ground. On level and moderate slopes ordinary skidding 
practices were followed. A single horse or a pair bunched the 
logs on to skidways from which they could be rolled onto two 
sleds. On steep ground the procedure was difierent. Two 
sleds could not be used to advantage. The only safe way was 
to drag the log out on a single bobsled with only one end of the 
logs up. Bare ground was preferable to snow because slower and 
hence safer. Furthermore, the spruce commonly stood so 
densely on such steep slopes that it was easy to make up a bob- 
sled load by merely rolling the logs onto the sled without any 
preliminary bunching. In fact in many places the timber was 



STUMPAGE PRICES 9 

felled into the roads which were not more than loo feet apart 
so that the horses did not need to get out of the road. For exam- 
ple, on the Henry operations in the White Mountains and the 
Perley and Crockett job in North CaroHna two sleds were not 
used at all. A single bobsled brought the logs off the mountain- 
side directly to the railroad. On less steep ground, however, the 
two-sled is the standard method of getting the logs from the 
skid ways to the railroad, drivable streams or mill. This sledding 
can, of course, only be done after there is plenty of snow. Hence 
the usual practice in the North Woods is to complete the felling 
operations by Christmas if possible and then put in January and 
February hauling. This gets the logs out of the w^oods before 
the river opens in the spring and ready for the drive in March 
and April. 

The following figures were average costs, in 191 5 : 

PerM 

Felling and bucking $1 • 50 

Skidding 2.00 

Hauling to railway or river, 2 miles 2 . 00 

Drive or railway haul to mill, distance 10 miles i .00 

$6.50 

Felling costs are relatively high because the timber is small and 
usually found on rough ground. Skidding is shown as a separate 
cost altho as explained above it is frequently merged into the 
hauling as a single operation of " yarding." A charge for two- 
sledding to the railway or drivable stream is included to make 
the estimate conservative although sometimes it is possible to 
yard directly into the drivable stream or railway with a bobsled. 
Likewise, the distance taken for the railway haul or drive is rather 
longer than the average to avoid the possibility of having costs 
which are too low. 

Expressed in terms of man hours and horse hours per M these 
costs would be as follows: 

Man hours Horse hours 

Felling and bucking 3 

Skidding 3 4 

Hauling, 2 miles 5 7 

Driving or railway haul, 10 miles 4 

Total 15 II 



lO NORTHERN SPRUCE TYPE 

To attain these figures the felling crew must cut 6M per day if 
composed of two men and 9M if there are three men. In 
skidding this assumes that one team will bunch at least 5M board 
feet per day. The hauling costs are on the basis of a daily output 
of 3M board feet or live round trips hauhng between 500 and 
600 board feet each time. The driving and railway haul costs 
cannot be expressed conveniently in terms of a day's work but 
the figures given are at least conservative. In all the operations 
except hauling by railroad the labor costs constitute 80 to 90 per 
cent of the entire charge. On account of the large amount 
invested in roUing stock the labor costs are but 40 per cent of the 
cost of operating a railroad. 

For pulp wood there is a well established market in the log form 
so that it need not be followed further than the mill. Prices 
ranged before the War from $7 to $10 per cord unpeeled. Peehng 
usually increased the price a dollar a cord. For converting board 
feet into cords a factor of 500 board feet is safe or in other words 
there will be found to be about two cords of pulpwood in a thou- 
sand feet of logs. Accessibility is the main factor in pulpwood 
values. New York State \vith a shorter freight haul for its paper 
pays better prices for pulpwood than New Hampshire or Maine. 

Spruce destined for sawtimber cannot be safely valued in the 
log but must be carried thru the sawmill. Then its value becomes 
a simple matter because eastern spruce is well graded with Boston 
and New York as the principal wholesale markets. Milhng 
charges added approximately $3 per :M to the costs of logging so 
that exclusive of stumpage spruce lumber should not have cost 
above $10 per M to get ready for the market. The prices paid 
in October, 1916, at Boston for the principal grades of spruce 
were as follows: 

PerM 

Frames 8 inches and under $28 . 00 

Random 22 . 50 

Cover boards 20. 50 

The average price, however, was seldom over $25 per M because 
it was unusual to get more than 40 per cent of frames. A dia- 
gram showing the recent changes in spruce lumber prices is given 
in Fig. 3. 



STUMPAGE PRICES 



II 



Yellow pine 










10,845,000,000 


Douglas fir 










5,820,000,000 


White pine 








2,200,000,000 


Oak 




2,025,000,000 


Hemlock 


pine 


1,875,000,000 


Western vellow 


1,710,000,000 






1 Spruce 1 


1,125,000,000 


Maple 










815,000,000 


Gum 










765,000,000 


C>T>ress 










630,000,000 


Redwood 










443 ,000,000 


Chestnut 










400,000,000 


Birch 










370,000,000 


Larch 










355,000,000 


Beech 










290,000,000 


Yellow poplar 










290,000,000 


Cedar 










245,000,000 


Tupelo 










237,000,000 


White fir 










213,000,000 


Basswood 










200,000,000 


Ehn 










195,000,000 


Cottonwood 










175,000,000 


Ash 










170,000,000 


Sugar pine 










111,000,000 


Hickory 










100,000,000 


Walnut 










100,000,000 


Balsam fir 










82,000,000 


Sycamore 










30,000,000 


Lodgepole pine 










12,000,000 


All other kinds 










60,000,000 


Grand total 






Fig. I 




31,890,000,000 






Lumber 


Production, 19 


18 




Computed by U. S. 


Forest Service. 


Bulletin 845. 



12 



NORTHERN SPRUCE TYPE 



As stated above the stumpage price of any tract should be the 
difTerencc between the average sale value of its timber and all 
costs of logging, manufacture and selling. On small jobs such 




Fig. 2. Distribution of the Northern Spruce Tpye 



calculations are simple but where large initial investments are 
necessary for railroads, roads, driving improvements, mill 
machinery, etc., the problem is exceedingly complex because the 



LAND VALUES 13 

exact influence of interest and depreciation must be determined. 
The most complete discussion of this subject is to be found in 
the U. S. Forest Service Stumpage Appraisal Manual. For our 
purposes it is sufficient to state the principles involved. Actual 
stumpage values for spruce and balsam range all the way from 
$2 to $8 per ]\I according to the accessibility of the tract in ques- 
tion. Between 1900 and 1907 there was an increase from $2.26 
to $5.49 per M, or a rise of 143 per cent. The percentage of bal- 
sam also influences the stumpage price of a tract. Fortunately, 
however, this inferior species seldom makes up more than 25 per 
cent of the total stand except in immature stands only large 
enough for pulp wood. It is a relatively short-lived tree which 
has to yield in the long run to spruce. Consequently there is 
seldom enough to greatly depress the value of a tract. 

Land Values. — Land values in this type are impossible to 
determine from current sales because the . timber is never sold 
separately. However, members of the New Hampshire Timber- 
land Owners' Association have agreed to the taxation of their 
clean-cut lands at $2 per acre so that that figure may be used as 
a minimum valuation. From the productive aspect it is easy 
to show that spruce land is worth at least $3 an acre using a 3 per 
cent interest rate and assuming that there will be a yield of 15M 
feet in 100 years worth $150 an acre. Losses from insects, fungi, 
etc., will be ofi"set by possible intermediate yields from thinnings. 

Very little of the soil in the spruce type has any value for 
agriculture. Even as j^asture in the Southern Appalachians it is 
not a success. The soil is so thin and the slopes so sharp that 
grass takes hold very slowly and cannot prevent washing. Fur- 
thermore, the climate is so rigorous that only the hardiest north- 
ern crops can survive. However, arguments and illustrations of 
this kind are superfluous. The facts prove the case. Scarcely 
I per cent of the entire type, north or south, has ever been cleared 
up for either tillage or pasture in spite of the keen demand for 
agricultural land that there has been in the northeast and south- 
east. 

Titles. — Title questions are relatively simple because the tracts 
involved have usually been handled in large units. There have 



14 



NORTHERN SPRUCE TYPE 



commonly been grants of thousands of acres issued to one paten- 
tee. Hence their history is easy to trace. Claims of title are, 
however, sometimes obscure from the fact that the tracts of 



$65 PER M 



$25 PER M BOARD FEET 



1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 191G 1917 1918 1919 1920 
Fig. 3. Wholesale Prices of Spruce Frames, 1910-1920, Boston. Mass. 

mountain land upon which spruce grows have only recently had 
a merchantable value and their early owners were lax in recording 
transfers and alienations. Breaks in the chain of title are not 
uncommon either due to simple failure to record sales and 



LAND VALUES I^ 

bequests, thru the unperfecting of the claims of minor heirs, or 
because of unliquidated liens. Squatters also form another 
frequent source of annoyance. In many cases they have been 
allowed to use uimiolested parts of large tracts for such long 
periods that they have acquired rights of possession. 



CHAPTER II 
NORTHERN HARDWOOD TYPE 

General Conditions. — This is the type of timber which Hes 
immediately below the spruce type — the beech, birch and maple 
belt. It is seldom abundant above 3000 feet above sea level but 
is the important type in northern Maine, the lower slopes of the 
White and Green Mountains, the Adirondacks and Catskills, 
and is represented southward along the backbone of the southern 
Appalachians by isola,ted islands of timber. In the Lake States 
it is found in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

The climate is characterized by a longer growing season than 
that of the spruce type, less precipitation, more rapid runoff and 
flyoff and hence less available moisture. Only two of these cli- 
matic factors may be expressed absolutely. The growing season 
is at least four months and the total annual precipitation exceeds 
35 inches. The other factors have not yet been accurately 
measured so that only comparative statements may be made. 

Since the type occupies lower elevations than the spruce type 
the slopes are less precipitous, the surface less stony and the soil 
deeper. The absolute range in elevation varies, of course, with 
the latitude. In the northeast a range between 2000 and 3000 
feet in elevation is the rule, while in North CaroHna the northern 
hardwoods do not occur below 3000 feet above sea level. On 
south and west exposures the t}q3e does not extend so low but 
reaches higher elevations on account of the longer growing season 
as compared mth northern and eastern exposures. 

The greater depth of the soil as compared with that of the 
spruce tj^pe has already been mentioned. This would naturally 
follow from the fact that the hardwoods are further down the 
slopes where the accumulation of talus is deeper. They flourish 
particularly well on the southern slopes of the White and Green 
Mountains, the Adirondacks and the Catskills where the glaciers 

j6 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 



17 



have dumped piles of detritus scraped off from the northern slopes 
of the mountains. The composition of the soil varies with the 
geological history of the region. In the north it is of glacial 




Fig. 4. Distribution of the Northern Hardwood and White Pine Types 



origin, usually a loam with many boulders. South of the con- 
tinental terminal moraine the soil is mainly derived from the 
decomposition of the underlying rock. But whatever its origin 



l8 NORTHERN HARDWOOD TYPE 

it tends to become a rich, dark loam by the disintegration of the 
abundant leaf litter. 

While beech, yellow birch and sugar maple are the character- 
istic species in this type there is always a generous admixture of 
other species. On the lower edges of the type white pine, hem- 
lock, black birch, basswood, red oak, and even occasionally white 
oak are part of the mixture while at the upper margin spruce, 
balsam and paper birch are the supplementary species. It is 
seldom, indeed, that this type does not have a considerable per- 
centage of softwood timber. In fact it is here that white pine 
and spruce reach their best development. For example, while 
the sand plains of northern Micliigan produce the dense stands 
of pure white pine the largest, tallest and straightest individuals 
grew amongst the hardwoods. 

A variety of subtypes may be distinguished in this type. In 
the first place there are the variations due to composition. These 
are mainly the results of differences in elevation. For example, 
a mixture of white pine and hardwoods is not common higher 
than 2000 feet above sea level because white pine does not flourish 
at a greater elevation. The distribution of spruce is governed 
by the same factor, it being unable to compete successfully with 
other species at elevations less than 2000 feet above sea level 
except occasionally on old fields. A few of the more usual com- 
binations which it is useful to distinguish as subtypes on account 
of their composition are: 

Hardwoods and white pine. 
Pure hardwoods. 
Hardwoods and spruce. 

These are arranged in order of their occurrence starting with the 
lower limits of the type. 

Besides the differences in composition due to elevation, lumber- 
ing, clearing, and lire have also played an important role. Stands 
may be virgin, culled, cutover, or burnt. Each has a different 
composition. Culling has been the commonest form of lumbering 
because in many places only the softwoods have been merchant- 
able. This has naturally resulted in increasing the percentage 



TIMBER VALUATION 



IQ 



of the hardwoods in a marked degree. The composition of the 
cutover and burned subtypes except where the soil has been 
entirely consumed tend to be identical. Commonly such intoler- 
ant, light seeded species as popple, pin cherry and paper birch 
take possession of the ground. Then when they have reached a 
height of lo or 15 feet the more tolerant hardwoods and spruce 
and balsam work in underneath. Occasionally, however, dense 
groups of hard maple crowd out the other species, especially 
where the maples have been cut and regenerate from sprouts. 

A not infrequent variation in the older parts of New England 
is the old field spruce subtype. This is 90 per cent or more pure 
spruce in composition and is always found on old pasture. The 
grazing kept the hardwoods out while the seed bed conditions 
were favorable for spruce. 

Fortunately damage is relatively slight in this type. None 
of the subt\T^s are as subject to burning as stands with a higher 
percentage of softwoods. Wind seldom succeeds in overthrow- 
ing the mixture of deep rooted species. Game, insects and fungi 
never cause the death of trees over wide areas because the stands 
are not made up of one species. In other words their food supply 
is too scattered, for usually but one kind of tree is attacked. 

The following table gives data on the growth of the principal 
species of the hardwood type from the researches of the U. S. 
Forest Service and the State Forester of Vermont: 

OPTIMUM IN 100 YEARS 



Species 



vSpruce 

Hard maple 

Aspen 

Yellow birch 

Vermont hardwoods 



Diameter 



23 
12 
10 



Height 



80 

75 
89 

74 
8S 



Density 
per acre 



300 

60 

27s 



Yield per acre 



Cubic feet 
10,000 

13,000 

7,000 



Timber Valuation. — Estimating within the hardwood type is a 
complicated problem. While the tracts are usually located on 
the lower slopes of the mountains, and hence the going is not 



20 NORTHERN HARDWOOD TYPE 

rough and roads not far distant, there are the following difficul- 
Lies to be overcome: 

1. Small size of the tracts. 

2. Great variation in composition of subt5rpes. 

3. Large number of species with varying uses so that dif- 

ferent diameter limits must be employed in estimating. 

4. Low branching habit of hardwoods so that the usable 

length is very variable. 

It is unfair to generalize and say that all tracts in this type are 
small, but certainly they average less in acreage than tracts in 
the spruce type. The very good reason for this is that the hard- 
woods occur on the lower slopes near the farmland and hence 
were more desirable as woodlots in the early days. Then too 
the prime use of a woodlot 50 years ago was for firewood, and 
softwoods don't make first class fuel. These two factors of 
greater accessibility and higher-use value led to the early sub- 
division of the hardwood type into lots of 50 acres or more. 
Seldom is it possible to find a tract composed of units of more 
than 100 acres to the lot. Large grants of 500 or 1000 acres 
such as are the rule in the spruce type never occur. This factor 
of area is merely one of the reasons why a relatively large per- 
centage must be covered in the estimating strips because a low 
percentage of a large tract will give as good an average as a 
much greater proportion of a small tract. 

Still another reason for running the strips close together is the 
great variability in composition. There may be a small pocket 
of white ash in one corner of the tract which will greatly inhance 
its value but which would not be discovered unless an unusually 
careful search were made. Other valuable species tend to occur 
in small groups also so that nothing less than a 10 per cent esti- 
mate is safe even for tracts of 500 acres or more. With smaller 
blocks an even higher proportion is necessary. For example, 
at least 50 per cent should be actually measured if a true estimate 
of a 10 acre lot is to be secured. 

The placing of the base line and the planning of the strip work 
present no unusual difficulties but follow the principles outlined 



TIMBER VALUATION 21 

in the discussion of the spruce type. There are, however, a series 
of special problems in the determination of the diameter limits 
to be used in estimating. Each species has its own peculiar uses 
and hence there is wide variation in the part of the tree which is 
merchantable. 

The principal uses of the species found in the hardwood type 
are as follows: 

White pine — doors, sash, finishing lumber, and boxboards. 

Hemlock — • dimension lumber, rough finish, pulp and box- 
boards. 

Spruce — dimension lumber and pulp. 

Balsam — pulp. 

Paper birch — shoe pegs, toothpicks, spools and bobbins. 

Yellow birch — flooring, spools, bobbins and interior finish. 

Black birch — flooring, spools, bobbins and interior finish. 

Beech — flooring, spools, bobbins and interior finish. 

Chestnut — rough finish, caskets, poles, railway ties. 

Red oak — furniture, car stock, and railway ties. 

White oak — furniture, car stock, and railway ties. 

Hard maple — flooring, bobbins, spools, furniture, and shoe 
lasts. 

Soft maple — flooring and bobbins. 

Basswood — boxes, trunks, furniture backing ana novelties. 

White ash — handles and sporting goods. 

The uses and diameter limits for spruce and balsam have 
already been discussed. White pine and hemlock are also sal- 
able for pulp so that the same minimum diameters hold altho 
these species usually find a better market if sawn into boxboards 
or square-edged lumber. If they are to be sold in the latter form 
a minimum diameter of ten inches breast-high and a top diameter 
of five inches will include all the merchantable timber. Barring 
certain ^special uses the hardwoods may be grouped into two 
classes, those manufactured into boards and those sold by cubic 
measure. Into the fijst class fall the maple, birch and beech 
which go into flooring and finishing lumber while the second class 
includes paper birch to be used for toothpicks and shoe pegs, 



22 



NORTHERN HARDWOOD TYPE 



yellow and paper birch, beech and maple for manufacture into 
spools, bobbins or dowels. Naturally this latter class can utilize 
smaller sizes. The minimum estimating diameters for the dif- 
ferent species found in this type are as follows: 



MINIMUM DIAMETERS 
Lumber 



Species 



Hemlock 

White pine 

Spruce 

Balsam 

Paper birch 

Yellow birch 

Black birch 

Beech 

Chestnut 

Red oak 

White oak 

Hard maple 

Red maple 

Silver maple 

Basswood 

White ash 

Cordwood — all species 



Breast-high 



Inches 



lO 
lO 



lO 
8 

lO 
lO 



ID 

5 



Top 



Inches 

5 

5 
5 
5 
6 



Obviously then the first step in planning the estimate of a tract 
is to find out to what uses the various species can best be put. 
This is in the main determined by the local industries. Hardwood 
logs are so heavy that they cannot be hauled long distances. As 
a consequence it often happens that a tract may have maple 
admirably suited for flooring but the absence of a planing mill 
makes it impossible to consider any other use than fuelwood. 

Volume tables exist for all the important species in this type — 
see Graves' "Mensuration" and Hawley and Hawes' "Manual of 
Forestry." While it may be permissible to use a table based on 
total height for softwoods, merchantable length is the only safe 
factor for hardwoods. There are two reasons for this. In the 
first place there is great variation in the usable lengths of hard- 
woods on account of the size of the branches. The straight main 
trunk and small side branches of a conifer are entirely different. 
With the latter it is entirely possible to get a reasonably close 



TIMBER VALUATION 



23 



estimate with a table based on total height and using a general 
average for the top diameter. But with hardwoods the top diam- 
eter may vary 100 per cent or more depending upon size and 
location of the side limbs. The second reason why usable length 
is much safer is that hardwoods are more subject to fungus dis- 
orders than softwoods especially where ground fires have been 
frequent or the limbs have been broken off by the wind. This 
means that a log length or two must be discarded in an otherwise 
sound tree on account of rot. With a log length table this is 
possible whereas a total height table does not have the same flex- 
ibility. 

Summing up, then, the difficulties and favorable factors that 
are encountered in estimating in this type, the accessibility and 
easy slopes make for quick work while the small size of the tracts, 
the varying composition, and the high percentage of defect 
amongst the hardwoods increase costs. An average of 20 strip 
acres per day for a crew of two men is good and the cost per acre 
can seldom be kept below 10 cents. Fifteen cents may be neces- 
sary if the tracts are small. 

The general principles which determine stumpage prices have 
been explained in the discussion of the spruce type so that it is 
only necessary to enumerate the main facts with regard to prices 
in the hardwood type. 

The best collection of average stumpage prices by regions and 
states is that published by the Forest Service in Bulletin 285, 
The Northern Hardwood Forest. The most important are repro- 
duced here: 



COMPARATIVE STUMPAGE PRICES FROM REPORTS OF SALES 

1912 





N. E. States 


Lake States 


S. E. States 


Birch 


5-6i 
4.38 

5-98 
8.40 

9 03 


4.85 
3 67 

4.58 
6.30 
S-82 


3-23 
2.86 


Beech 


Elm 




Hard maple 


3-45 
4.92 
6.16 


Basswood 


Ash 







24 



NORTHERN HARDWOOD TYPE 



Altho compiled from records of actual sales kept by the Office of 
Industrial Investigation they cannot be taken as average figures 
for the regions referred to because they apply to only the most 
accessible timber. Inaccessible timber would not be sold. As a 
whole, then, they are higher than can be expected on the average. 
Furthermore there is considerable variation within the groups 
of states cited. Among the northeastern timbered states New 
York and Pennsylvania record the highest stumpage, as might 
naturally be expected from their advanced industrial develop- 
ment. However, Ohio and Indiana have still higher prices but 
they are essentially agricultural states with very little true forest 
soil. In the Great Lake region Michigan with its large manu- 
facturing interests shows the highest stumpage prices. For the 
same reason Maryland leads among the states of the southeast. 
The following table shows for each of the important hardwood 
species the maximum and minimum prices recorded in 191 2 with 
the state in which they occur. 

MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM STUMPAGE PRICES 
1912 



Species 


Maximum price 


Minimum price 


Maple 

Birch 

Beech 

Basswood 

Elm 

Ash 


PerM 
$7.94 Indiana 

6.14 New York 

6.15 Ohio 
II .59 Ohio 

9.43 Ohio 
15.87 Ohio 


PerM 
$2.70 Virginia 
2.31 Tennessee 
1 .83 W. Virginia 
3.30 N. Carolina 
2.67 Virginia 
3.85 W. Virginia 



It is evident that maple commands the best price in the north 
central states where the nearness to market, small supply, and 
high quality all combine to increase the stumpage price. Both 
Ohio and Indiana are primarily agricultural and manufacturing 
states so that what little timber is left would naturally be valuable 
and in addition the finest quality of maple grows in deep, agri- 
cultural soil such as occurs in these states. Of the northeastern 
states New York reports the highest prices and Vermont the 
lowest but there is only a range of $1.72 or 40 per cent. In the 



TIMBER VALUATION 25 

Lake States stumpage prices vary from $9.86 to $3.48 or a dif- 
ference of $6.38 or 180 per cent. The southern Appalachian 
states show a variation of $2.61 or 96 per cent with a minimum 
of $2.70 in Virginia and a maximum of $5.31 in Maryland. These 
prices are, however, of little value in arriving at a definite notion 
of the average value of maple stumpage unless accompanied by 
statistics showing the distribution of the standing timber. For 
example, while the stumpage prices in Indiana are high there is 
so little timber that the effect upon the general level is negligible. 
Frothingham's estimate of the total amount of stumpage shows 
that the northeastern and Lake States contain 87 per cent of the 
total stand. As a matter of fact, the hardwood type is relatively 
unimportant in other parts of the country. 

Since these figures are of little value in determining the stump- 
age price on any particular tract it is necessary to supplement 
them by logging costs and average selling prices. Average costs 
of logging were as follows in 1915: 

PerM 

Felling $2.50 

Skidding 3 . 00 

Hauling to mill, 3 miles 4 . 00 

Milling 4.00 

1350 

These costs are naturally higher than for softwoods because 
hardwoods are heavier, crooked and generally more difficult to 
handle. Even at the sawmill they cost more on account of their 
hardness. Their proper seasoning is also more difiicult since 
they require closer sticking and more protection from the weather. 
The softwoods mixed in amongst the hardwoods can be handled 
for $3.00 to $4.00 per M less. Expressed in man hours and horse 
hours per M the costs would be as follows: 

Man hours Horse hours 

Felling and bucking 6 

Skidding 5 6 

Hauling to mill, 3 miles 10 20 

Milling 10 

31 26 



26 NORTHERN HARDWOOD TYPE 

Tliis means that a felling crew of 2 men would have to fell and 
buck 3M per day, the skidding crew handle as much, and the 
hauling teams make three trips per day with at least 300 board 
feet per load. 

The logging and milling methods follow very closely those 
employed in the spruce type. The large camp is the rule because 
of the greater efficiency secured by having the men close to their 
work. Skidding on the bare ground is the common practice 
because the logs must be bunched up before being hauled out on 
two-sleds. The slopes are seldom steep enough to make it worth 
while to bobsled the logs directly to the railroad or mill. Hard- 
wood logs cannot be successfully driven. The capacity of the 
mill varies within wide limits. Many successful operations have 
large mills with railroad transportation from the woods. This 
insures the highest efficiency of manufacture because solid foun- 
dations are needed if hardwood is to be sawn well. But it does not 
encourage close utilization in the woods. By reason of the cost 
of transportation to the mill there is a strong tendency to only 
haul out the high grade material. To prevent this loss of the 
lower grades and save on the haul from the woods the experiment 
has been tried of placing the mill in the woods. Then a higher 
percentage of the felled tree reaches the mill but only the seasoned 
product in a more or less finished state is hauled out. If the 
produce is boards the saving on the haul is considerable since 
even air seasoned hardwood lumber weighs about' half that of the 
same amount of lumber in log form. An even greater sa\ing 
can be made where some form of finished product is manufactured. 
Dowel, handle and bobbin mills, for example, located close to the 
woods, utilize the tree fairly closely and have merely the finished 
product to haul. 

All the species make excellent firewood since they have a fuel 
value per cord equivalent to about three-quarters of a ton of 
coal. Cordwood cost from $1.50 to $2.50 to cut and pile in 1915, 
or 7 to 10 man hours, and the hauling did not exceed 5c cents per 
cord per mile. 

Average selling prices are difficult to give because of the 
variety of uses to which the dilTerent species are put. The figures 



LAND VALUES 2^ 

given below are simply general averages which were attained with 
reasonable care. Higher prices were, of course, secured if special 
products were manufactured. 

Average Sale Values per M 
f.o.b. mill. 1914 

White pine $18.00 Beech $16.00 

Hemlock 17.00 Chestnut 19.00 

Spruce 18. 00 Red oak 18. 00 

Balsam 1 7 . 00 Hard maple 18 . 00 

Paper birch 1 7 . 00 Soft maple 17. 00 

Yellow birch 17.00 Basswood 18.00 

Black birch 17 . 00 White ash 20 . 00 

Cord wood sold for $3 for softwood and $4 to $6 for hardwood. 

To determine what stumpage price may be realized the costs 
of logging and manufacture must be deducted from these sale 
values. For the softwoods there should be a margin of $6 to 
$10 in the lumber with the chance of getting an extra dollar or 
two per M from the cordwood. With all the hardwoods, except 
red oak, basswood and white ash, such high returns cannot be 
expected, so that a margin of $4 to $7 for the lumber and an addi- 
tional $1 per M from the cordwood is very satisfactory. Oak, 
basswood and ash have special uses which enhance their stumpage 
values so that stumpage prices of $10 per M are paid in the terri- 
tory tributary to the special establishments which need these 
species. 

Land Values. — Here again as Avith the spruce type the land 
seldom has any value aside from what will be paid for the timber. 
Most transactions have not specified any separate valuation for 
the land but the transfers have simply been on the basis of stump- 
age values. Hence in order to determine what the soil capacity 
is for timber production sales of pasture land must be consulted. 
Our Puritan forefathers in their hunger for land cleared up many 
hillsides for pasture purposes out of the hardwood type. The 
modern tendency is to allow such clearings to reforest themselves 
and holdings of this kind which are neither pasture or timberland 
may be purchased for from $3 to $15 an acre, depending upon 
their location. But these figures cannot be taken as representa- 



28 NORTHERN HARDWOOD TYPE 

live for the whole type because they only apply to the most 
accessible lands. 

On the basis of a i co-year rotation with compound interest at 
3 per cent and assuming a final yield of 15M board feet per acre 
hardwood lands show a value of $4 per acre. This yield is con- 
servative because it does not include thinnings. These latter 
should easily give a margin above possible losses from fire, insects, 
fungi, etc. 

For agricultural purposes this type of soil has a higher value 
than spruce land because it is deeper, has a higher percentage of 
loam with less raw humus and the growing season is longer. 
Reference has already been made to the use of these lands for 
pasture prior to the Civil War. It is conceivable that a similar 
demand may recur but it seems more probable that the steepness 
of the slopes and number and size of the rocks will prevent profit- 
able cultivation. Taken as a whole at least 90 per cent of the 
type may safely be said to be better adapted to the growing of 
timber than to either tillage or pasture. 

Titles. — The past history of land in the hardwood type makes 
the searching of titles a difficult problem. The unit areas are 
small, the surveys are poor and transfers are not recorded accu- 
rately or completely. Such a condition of affairs is inevitable 
with land which has been considered of little value for a long 
period. The only saving factor is that these so-called '' back 
pastures " and " sugar bushes " have in many cases been regarded 
as integral parts of the farm and transferred accordingly. It is, 
however, always necessary to look up the probate and tax sale 
records to make sure that there are no liens on the property which 
do not appear in the County Recorder's Office. 



CHAPTER III 
WHITE PINE TYPE 

General Conditions. — This is the type from which the colon- 
ists obtained the masts and shipbuilding timber to which Pepys 
made such feeling reference in his diary — 

" From New England ships come home safe to Falmouth 
with masts for the King; which is a blessing mighty unex- 
pected, and without which we must have failed the next 
year." 
Here were trained the loggers who have made Maine so famous 
by their exploits with axe and peevy and in this type they have 
gone westward thru New York and Pennsylvania to the Lake 
States as the virgin supplies were exhausted on the Atlantic coast. 
Its exact boundaries are frequently difficult to delimit where the 
type merges into the hardwood type but roughly it covers the 
lower parts of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachu- 
setts and the more elevated portions of Connecticut. In New 
York and the Lake States it is a lowland tjrpe but only occurs in 
the northern parts. 

The growing season is distinctly longer than with the two types 
previously considered. Ordinarily frosts do not occur between 
May I and September 15 so that there is a vegetative period of 
about five months. Moreover, the temperatures are higher. For 
the year the mean is 50° F. while during the summer the maxi- 
mum is 100° F. with an average of 65° F. This means consider- 
ably more transpiration and evaporation than with the spruce 
and hardwood types. 

Another factor which decreases the total available moisture is 
the lessened precipitation. This is mainly the result of lower 
altitude above sea level. The hardwood and spruce types cover 
the mountains and hills which intercept the moisture-laden 
winds from the west. Consequently instead of being over 45 

29 



30 WHITE riNE TYPE 

inches as with the other two types it seldom exceeds that figure 
as a maximum. In fact, the pineries of the Lake States have an 
average annual precipitation of 30 inches. 

There is, however, one factor which tends to conserve the pre- 
cipitation. That is the comparatively level topography which 
retards rapid runoff. Generally speaking the pine t>pe is con- 
fined to the overwash plains formed by the streams which drained 
from the retreating ice sheets in the Glacial Age. These are 
gently sloping sand or gravel beds from which the runoff is slow. 
But the openness of the oil tends to counteract in part, at least, 
the lack of slope. 

As a consequence the availaole moisture is so deficient that the 
predominating species, white pine, red pine, jack pine and pitch 
pine, are all adapted to sites not abundantly supplied with 
moisture. Species wliich cannot endure dry sites are restricted 
to those within the type which by reason of drainage or soil con- 
ditions have more available moisture. Hence, hemlock and 
hardwoods are only found in this type in deep-soiled, well-watered 
vaUeys. Moreover, but few of the deciduous leafed trees charac- 
teristic of the hardwood type just described occur in this type. 
The important ones are white oak, chestnut, cherry or black 
birch, gray birch and black cherry. Paper and yellow birch, 
beech and red and white ash occur sparingly on the cooler sites 
included within the type. 

Since the pine type is most abundant on lands which were 
early sought for agricultural purposes, lire and clearing have had 
profound effects upon the composition of the type. In addition 
lumbering has played an important role in modifying the original 
forest conditions. As a consequence there are very few stands 
left which are representative of the type as the early settlers 
found it. These virgin stands were either pure pine or pine 
mixed with hemlock and tolerant hardwoods like sweet birch 
and beech. The usual course of history after the removal of the 
virgin stands was more or less repeated burnings. Fire was 
used intentionally to clean up the land for cultivation or allowed 
to run unchecked in the logging slash. As a consequence the 
poorer sandy lands are now covered with a scrubby growth of 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 31 

pitch pine and scrub oak in New England and jack pine in the 
Lake States. All three of these species are capable of standing 
repeated burnings. Pitch pine and jack pine have thick bark 
which does not burn readily and their cones are also almost fire- 
proof. The scrub oak holds its own thru its ability to sprout 
after being injured. Fire is, in fact, responsible in most cases for 
the failure of white pine to replace itself. In places where fire is 
kept out the pine comes in either in pure stands or in mixture 
with hardwoods. For example, old pastures within the type are 
quickly covered with pine " bushes " while the hardwoods are 
kept in check by grazing if the pasture is still used. This results 
in practically pure stands of pine. If, on the other hand, the 
hardwoods are not held in check by grazing they frequently 
occupy the old fields to the apparent exclusion of pine. This 
is particularly true with such light seeded, vigorous species as 
gray birch and aspen. But the pine slowly but surely works its 
way in under the thinner crowned hardwoods and eventually 
replaces them because it is longer Uved so that the final result is 
a nearly pure stand of pine again. In fact white and red pine are 
so well adapted to the climatic and soil conditions in this type 
that they can be relied upon to take possession of the ground if 
they are given even half a chance. 

The commonest subtypes in this type and their composition 
by number are as follows: 

Pure white pine — over 90 per cent white pine. 

White pine and hemlock — • 50 per cent white pine and 50 

per cent hemlock and hardwoods. 
White pine and gray birch — 60 per cent white pine, 40 per 

cent gray birch. 
White pine and oak — 40 per cent white pine, 60 per cent 

red, white, and black oak. 
White pine and pitch pine — 50 per cent white pine and 50 

per cent pitch pine. 

Besides these subtypes based on composition there are also, of 
course, subtypes due to various degrees of logging, as, for example, 
virgin, culled, and cutover stands. 



32 WmTE PINE TYPE 

Both the fire hazard and liability are high in this type so that 
damage from this cause is frequent and severe. Locomotive 
engines and smokers riding on the railroads, in automobiles, 
behind horses, or walking for business, pleasure or to hunt are 
the commonest offenders. Two-thirds of the forest fires are due 
to these two causes alone. For the other third, fires started to 
clear land, stationary engines and incendiaries are responsible. 
The important point to recognize with reference to the fire 
hazfl,rd in tliis type is that it is so situated that it is brought into 
direct contact with nearly all the human activities of the states 
in which it is found. It occupies the low lying land near the 
seacoast where the railroads form networks of interlacing tracks. 
Farms surround it and cut it up. As a consequence it has had 
to suffer from every kind of fire carelessness of which man is 
capable. 

But worst of all is the amount of damage which fire can do. 
The young stands are completely wiped out because the inflam- 
mable tops furnish fuel for even a gentle ground fire. Older 
stands suffer as badly if there is a wind because the fire leaps 
from the ground and becomes a crown fire. In both cases the 
thin bark is usually scorched so that the tree dies. Taking every- 
thing into consideration white pine stands are as poor a fire risk 
as any of our timber wealth. After a fire they must be imme- 
diately cut. If allowed to stand the sapwood quickly decays and 
the loss is often as high as 50 per cent within three years. 

In addition to fire white pine stands have recently been 
threatened with another devastating agency. This is the white 
pine blister rust, an imported European disease with two hosts, 
the five needle pines and currants or gooseberries. Unless 
prompt measures are taken for its suppression it threatens aU 
our five needle pines and there is a chain of them across the con- 
tinent including such important commercial species as the 
eastern white pine, the Idaho white pine or silver pine, and the 
sugar pine of California. It is most serious with small trees. 
Fortunately the disease can be controlled by the eradication of 
currant and gooseberry bushes, both wild and cultivated. 
Prompt action on the part of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massa- 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 



33 



chusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut will effectually check 
the disease. As compared with the capital invested in white 
pine timber and woodworking plants the value of all the culti- 
vated currants is practically negligible. Red pine and pitch pine 
are subject to a similar native blister rust which has as its alter- 
nate host sweet fern, but fortunately this disease is not so virulent 
as the imported white pine blister rust. 

Another fungus which occasionally kills white pine is the 
bracket fungus, Trametes pini, or red rot. This is a heart rot 
which enters thru a dead limb and destroys the tree by eating 
away the heartwood. Sapwood it cannot attack. But the decay 
of the heartwood leaves the tree without a backbone, so to speak, 
and the wind tumbles it over. The wood of such a tree is, of 
course, useless since there is but a shell of sound sapwood around 
the rotted heartwood. It is, however, usually possible to get one 
or more sound logs from an infected tree because the fungus com- 
monly enters near the ground and works within a limited area. 
To prevent the spread of this parasite all infested trees should be 
removed as quickly as possible. 

Another imported pest is the gypsy moth. While the larvae 
carmot feed on conifers for the first week after hatching they can 
and will defoliate white pine, red pine and hemlock if they get 
started on hardwood. Consequently stands of gray birch and 
white or red pine offer ideal conditions for its development. All 
the egg clusters laid on the gray birch have the proper kind of 
food to give them a good start so that after the first week the 
larvae are able to digest coniferous foliage. In the individual 
woodlot there are two methods of control. By all odds the best 
way is to cut out the hardwoods because they can usually be 
made to yield some returns as cordwood at least. Painting the 
egg clusters in the winter with creosote is effective if thoroly done 
but the expense is usually prohibitive in large lots. It is difficult 
and time consuming to chmb thru a large oak for example. Such 
methods, while justified for shade trees, are usually not feasible 
for woodlots. 

White pine is attacked by two forms of plant lice — Chermes — 
which occasionally become abundant enough to disfigure or even 



34 



WHITE PINE TYPE 



destroy it. In the woodlot the best control measure is to cut and 
burn the infested trees. 

Another insect which disfigures the white pine is the white 
pine weevil. It kills the terminal shoot by girdling it. The eggs 
of this beetle are laid in the upper part of the terminal shoot 
during the latter part of the summer and the larvae burrow around 
underneath the bark the following summer. The large number 
of deformed trees in nearly every second growth stand of white 
pine shows that the insect is no new pest but has been attacking 
white pine for at least a century. Nevertheless, it could be 
greatly diminished, if not eradicated, by a determined and con- 
certed effort. If the infested shoots are cut and burned before 
the first of August the weevils are destroyed before the adult 
form emerges. 

The principal insect and fungus enemies of the commercial 
tree species in this type arc listed below : 

White pine — gypsy moth, Chermes, weevil, blister rust, and 

red rot. 
Red pine — blister rust. 
Hemlock — no serious enemies. 
Butternut — no serious enemies. 
Shagbark hickory — no serious enemies. 
Black birch — gypsy moth, heart rot (Fomes igniarius and 

f omentarius) . 
Grey birch — gypsy moth, heart rot (Fomes igniarius and 

f omentarius) . 
Beech — gypsy moth, heart rot (Fomes igniarius and 

f omentarius) . 
Red and white oak — gypsy moth, browntail moth, heart 

rot (Fomes igniarius, squamosus, and sulphureus). 
Elm — gypsy moth, elm leaf beetle, heart rot (Polyporus 
squamosus) . 
More complete data probably exists for the growth in this type 
than for any other in the United States. On account of their 
high value white pine stands have been very thoroughly studied 
in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Micliigan. 
The best information on the diameter and height growth and 
yield of the species in this type is summarized below : 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 



35 



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O O O Q 
O O O O 



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M ro *N O 

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36 WHITE PINE TYPE 

In diameter and height growth and hence volume accretion, 
since diameter and height are to two functions of volume, white 
pine, red pine, white ash, aspen, and red oak are in a class by 
themselves. All of them will attain a diameter of i8 inches and 
a total height of over 85 feet in 100 years. Basswood almost 
reaches this size but falls a little short. Of the hardwoods, 
beech, birch, and maple, the first is the slowest growing. The 
other two grow from 25 to 50 per cent faster. Hemlock is usually 
the slowest growing of all. In yield white pine leads because it 
is at the same time a fairly rapid grower and will stand much side 
shading. This is the reason why pure stands of red pine and 
white ash do not yield more heavily. They are intolerant of 
shading. Aspen has this same fault and consequently does not 
produce so much wood per acre in 100 years as do stands of beech, 
birch, and maple. 

Timber Valuation. — In the estimating of white pine lots there 
are only two factors which tend to reduce the cost. First of all 
the lots are usually accessible. Suitable living accommodations 
can often be secured within a few minutes' walk of the work. 
Secondly, the stands are generally quite uniform in composition 
and density since they are commonly pure, even aged stands. 
However, these two favorable factors are offset by the high value 
of the timber and the small size of the tracts. As a consequence 
a large percentage has to be estimated. Seldom is it safe to take 
less than 20 per cent and with small lots all the merchantable 
timber should be measured. In fact estimating as a skilled trade 
has reached its highest development in the white pine region. A 
cruiser brought up in the Lake States, for example, has been so 
thoroly grounded in the need for careful work that he can succeed 
almost anywhere. 

Diameter limits will be the same as in the other types dis- 
cussed. For breast-height eight inches is the smallest merchant- 
able lumber tree in softwoods and ten inches in hardwoods. The 
top diameters usually taken are four inches for softwood lumber 
and eight inches for hardwood lumber. Cordwood can be cut 
from trees four inches in diameter breast-high and run out to 
two inches in the top end. 



TIMBER VALUATION 



37 



The strip method of estimating costs not less than 15 cents an 
acre where the amount and quality of the timber and its value 
are reported upon and a topographic map is also constructed. 
This should give a 30 per cent estimate with an average run of 
three miles of strip per working day. 

Since white pine was one of the first species to become commer- 
cially important unusually good figures are available as to the 
course of stumpage prices. Two such tables are given, the first 
taken from Compton's '' Organization of the Lumber Industry " 
and the second from the report of the National Conservation 
Commission. 



Sales of northern pine by the State of Minnesota 
(includes some red pine and spruce) 



1880 
1885 
1890 

1895 
1900 



Per M 



Si. 47 
1-73 
2.25 
2.18 
517 



1 90s 
1910 
1911 
1912 
1913 



Per M 



$7 .18 
8.00 
8.00 
8.00 
8.00 



White pine stumpage prices in 
Michigan 



1866 
1870 

187s 
1880 
1885 



Per M 



Si .00 
2.25 
2.50 
3.00 
5.00 



1895 
1900 

1915 



Per M 



SS.50 

5-25 

10.00 

15.00 



Both of these show a fairly regular advance in price. In fact 
white pine is one of the few important American species in which 
the stumpage price has equalled the cost of growing the timber. 
White pine can be grown on rotations of 50 to 75 years for a cost 
of $10 a M and in both cases cited above that figure has been 
reached. It must, however, be remembered that the stumpage 
prices given above are for old growth timber which has taken at 
least 150 years to reach its present size. Nevertheless, the state- 
ment is valid that white pine may be profitably grown. A price 
of $10 per M has been realized for second growth pine in several 
places in New England, New York, and the Lake States. To 
show the regional variation in stumpage prices the Forest Service 
figures collected in 191 2 may be cited: 

PerM 

Northeastern states 8 . 44 

Lake states 10 • 39 

Southeastern states 3 . 91 



38 WHITE PINE TYPE 

Mill run values have also increased but not in the same ratio as 
stumpage prices. For example during the period from 1900 to 
1907 stumpage prices rose 121 per cent while lumber prices only 
advanced 53 per cent or from $12.66 to $19.41. At present 
(1920) the following prices are being paid by retailers in the large 
markets: 

Per M 

Uppers $200 . 00 

Barn boards 45 • oo 

Boxboards, round edge 35 ■ oo 

Logging methods vary with the region. In the New England 
States and to some extent in New York and Pennsylvania white 
pine is now confined to woodlots. These the owners log in the 
winter time using their farm teams. This is the particular region 
of the portable sawmill. The tracts arc small but accessible so 
that the mill can be readily hauled into the timber and labor can 
be picked up from the nearby farms. Winter time is preferred 
both because it is easier to find men then and because of the 
easier hauling on the snow. The average costs of such an opera- 
tion were as follows in 1914: 

Per M 

Felling and bucking $1 • 50 

Hauling logs to mill 2 . 00 

Milling 2.50 

Sticking i . 00 

S7.00 

75 to 90 per cent of the output goes into boxboards so that the 
average price of the lumber at the mill ranged from $14 to $20 
depending upon the distance from a box factory. Hence the 
stumpage price ranged from $6 to $10 per M. To this could 
often be added $1 to $2 from the sale of cordwood cut from the 
tops. 

In the Lake States and other places where larger bodies of pine 
are involved the methods are different. The men must be pro- 
vided for in large camps back long distances from the railroad. 
Large mills are the rule and this entails either a long haul or a 
long drive or both. This is the region where the iced road care- 
fully graded and maintained has been most highly developed. 



TIMBER VALUATION 39 

By it the cost of transporting the logs from the woods to the mill 
or drivable streams has been reduced to the minimum because 
the size of the load can be increased 10 to 20 times. Average 
costs for a Lake State operation were as follows in 19 14: 

PerM 

Felling and bucking $1 . 00 

Skidding 2 . 00 

Hauling to drivable stream 2 . 00 

Driving 1. 00 

Milling 3 • 00 

$9.00 

The only step which is cheaper than in the woodlot region is the 
felUng and bucking. The large size of the timber is the factor 
which decreases the cost. The transport of the logs to the mill 
is more expensive because the distance is greater and the work is 
done in two steps instead of merely one as in woodlot work. 
Instead of using a skoot to haul the logs the Lake State practice 
is to skid the logs into piles and then put them onto two sleds. 
Where a railroad and steam skidders are employed costs can be 
reduced if the size of the operation justifies the original outlay 
for equipment. Sawing charges are likewise higher for the large 
mill than for the portable but the former turns out higher grade 
material so that its use is justified where the timber is of medium 
to large size. In fact the returns in the Lake States are usually 
larger because a greater amount of higher grade timber is obtained. 
As against an average mill run price of $18 per M for the portable 
mill the large mill obtained in 1914 $25 per M for its output. 
Hence, stumpage prices are higher in the Lake States. In fact 
there is very little virgin white pine no matter how inaccessible 
that can be purchased nowadays for less than $10 per M. 

The amount of work turned out per day also varies in the two 
regions. In the woodlot area a crew of two men should fell and 
buck 5M board feet on the average while a day's work with the 
larger pine is 8M feet. Expressed in terms of man hours it 
takes 3^ hours per M in the small pine of the woodlot region and 
only 2 J hours in the stands of old growth timber. Getting the 
logs to the miU is naturally much cheaper in the woodlot region. 



40 



WHITE PINE TYPE 



There it costs three man hours and three team hours per M (^ 
mile haul) where a small mill is employecJ. Milling is likewise 
less expensive, 3I man hours per M in the portable miU and four 
in the large one exclusive of planing, dry kilning, etc. 

For hemlock stumpage prices there are the data made avail- 
able in Frothingham's bulletin on the eastern hemlock (Bulletin 
152, U. S. Forest Service). They may be summarized as follows: 



AVERAGE STUMPAGE VALUES PER M 


FOOT 




Northeastern States 


Lake States 


Southern States 


1889 


(Estimated) 

$1.50 
2.7s 
S-72 
6.28 


(Estimated) 

$1.00 

2.25 

3.83 

S.78 


(Estimated) 
$1 .00 


iSqo 


2.00 


1Q07 


2.84 


iqi2 


3 05 







By comparison \\ith the figures for white pine it will be seen that 
hemlock is from 68 to 28 per cent less than white pine but has 
increased during the period from 1889 and 191 2 between 200 and 
300 per cent which is essentially the same rate at which white 
pine stumpage prices have advanced. In other words while 
hemlock has fewer uses than white pine, and hence a lower value, 
its stumpage has kept pace with that of pine but on a lower level. 
The logging and manufacture of hemlock differs Httle in method 
from that of white pine. It is, however, a heavier and harder 
wood and does not float so readily. Hence the cost of getting 
it out of the woods and thru the mill is at least 1 5 per cent greater. 
Unfortunately too its sale value as lumber is low because of the 
rather limited uses to which it can be put. It is generally only 
used for boxes, framing, and inside finish if carefully selected. Its 
main competitors are southern yellow pine and Douglas fir, both 
of which are more durable, and spruce which is easier to work. 
Consequently its sale value has always been low. At present 
(1920) the following prices were being paid in the Boston whole- 
sale market: 

Per M 

Hemlock frames, 8 inches and under (estimated) $45.00 

Hemlock boards planed and clipped 40 . 00 

Hemlock boards 30 . 00 



TIMBER VALUATION 41 

Mill run prices would be the weighted average of these figures less 
the freight haul and handhng from the mill to the market. Sel- 
dom will they exceed $40 per M. 

One factor that increases the possible returns from hemlock 
lumber is the use of the bark for tanning purposes. This brought 
from $7 to $11 per ton at the tannery. Yields vary from 2.8 to 
0.4 tons per M feet of lumber with an average of | ton. Peeling, 
drying and hauling cost from $4 to $6 per ton. 

An additional way in which higher returns per acre may be 
obtained from hemlock stands is the sale of the tops for pulp. 
Limbs as small as four inches inside the bark at the top end may 
be sold for this purpose at from $5 to $15 per cord, unpeeled, 
where there is a market for it. Cordwood cost from $3 to $6 
delivered at the mill and about | cord may be obtained from the 
limbs and tops per M feet of sawlogs. 

Summing up the factors which influence the possible returns 
from hemlock timber, the logging and milling cost from $8 to 
$10 per M; and the lumber was worth about $16 per M at the 
mill, leaving a margin of $6 to $8 for stumpage and profit. To 
this it was possible to add under favorable market conditions 
$1.50 to $2.50 per M from the sale of bark and $1 per M from 
pulp-wood. Therefore, the total returns per M should be from 
$6 to $11.50. 

While important locally aspen forms such a small percentage 
of the total amount of wood used in the United States that sepa- 
rate census stumpage figures have never been given for it. At 
the present time it sells on the stump for $1 to $5 per cord accord- 
ing to the proximity of plants which use it. Wood pulp for paper 
and excelsior are the two principal ways in which it is manu- 
factured and for both uses it commands a price of $7 to $9 a cord, 
peeled. In both industries peeled four-foot bolts are the form in 
which aspen is usually sold. The minimum top diameter inside 
the bark is four inches so that it does not pay to cut trees which are 
less than eight inches in diameter, breast-high. Logging is started 
about the first of May and must be completed before July i to 
take advantage of the spring peeling season. Two men can fell 
and peel about 50 trees or 12 cords per day. Sawing into four- 



42 WHITE PINE TYPE 

foot lengths and piling takes about twice as long per cord so that 
the average day's work is six cords for two men. Hence the 
total cost of the logging was about $i per cord in 19 14 under 
favorable circumstances but contracts could seldom be let for 
less than $1.25 per cord and often ran up nearly to $2. The 
hauling cost varies with the number of turns per day but rarely 
exceeded 50 cents per mile per cord. The proper stumpage price 
for any tract may be closely approximated from these costs by 
deducting them from the sale value. Aspen is sometimes used 
for lumber where durability is not a factor but it is a soft, weak 
wood which is difficult to season and did not sell for more than 
$25 per M retail. As fuel it is excellent where a quick, hot fire 
is desired but did not sell for more than $4 a cord in four-foot 
lengths, because there are so many better fuel woods in the 
northeast. These figures would have to be doubled to bring 
them to a 1920 status. 

The stumpage price of butternut is determined by the value of 
black walnut for which it is a cheaper substitute. The latter has 
long held the position of our most valuable tree species, the 
average stumpage price according to the 1900 Census being $5. 
Butternut would not bring more than half that price. Both 
species find their highest use in the furniture trade where mill 
run butternut commanded a value of $35 per M f.o.b. the wood- 
working establishment in 19 14. Its logging is comparatively 
expensive because it does not occur in pure stands but scattered 
here and there on deep soiled fertile spots. Hence the actual 
cost of getting the logs from the stump to the mill and turning out 
boards was seldom less than $10 per M. Subtracting this 
amount plus a margin of $5 per M for freight and miscellaneous 
charges from the average sale value left a maximum stumpage 
price of $20 per M. 

Hickory is another species which is very valuable to a certain 
class of woodworkers but which is often left to rot in the woods 
because of the difficulty of getting it to the user in the form which 
he demands. Hickory commanded an average stumpage price 
of $6.69 per M in 1900 in spite of the fact that it is the best handle 
and spoke material in the world. For the selected boards which 



TIMBER VALUATION 43 

they use the manufacturers paid $50 per M but these had to be 
at least eight inches wide and free from red heart wood. The 
weight, hardness and high percentage of defect are responsible for 
decreasing the stumpage price of this valuable wood. All three 
factors mean a high cost of logging which is still further increased 
by the scattered way in which hickory occurs. Consequently it 
was seldom possible to log and mill hickory for less than $12 per 
M and even then not more than 50 per cent of what would ordi- 
narily be considered merchantable was put into lumber. Hence 
the largest stumpage price that can be expected for even acces- 
sible timber is $10 per M and the average is under $5. 

Some \villow and alder occur in this type along the stream 
courses. Barring the use of the former for willow rods, which is 
more of an agricultural than forest use, the highest returns can 
be secured by converting the wood into charcoal for black pow- 
der. The wholesale price for charcoal was 50 cents per bushel 
(191 6) and one cord of four-foot wood made 20 bushels of char- 
coal, the cost of which, including burning, was usually figured at 
50 cents per cord. Hence there may be, under favorable circum- 
stances, a margin of over $9 per cord in handling willow and alder 
charcoal. But, unfortunately, the demand is so localized that 
there are only a few places where charcoal can be sold. These 
species are, therefore, seldom reckoned as an asset. 

Beech has already been discussed in the hardwood type. Like- 
wise there are only two species of birch which need further elabo- 
ration, the gray birch and the black or cherry birch. The former 
is a small species which is utilized locally. Close to spool or 
bobbin mills, or a good market for cord wood, it can be sold for 
$1 to $2 a cord on the stump while four-foot wood at least three 
inches at the top end inside the bark brought $3 to $5 per cord 
delivered in 191 5. The cost of cutting and stacking was seldom 
greater than $1 .50 if the tops were not piled. Hauling varied with 
the distancqj on a good road a pair of horses should haul a cord 
without difficulty. Summing up, gray birch is only an asset in 
the most accessible localities and does not bring more than $3 a 
cord stumpage even there. It is, however, often a detriment to 
a tract of white pine because its rapid growth enables it to over- 



44 



WHITE PTNE TYPE 



top the pine and whip off the buds and leaves of the upper 
branches when there is much wind stirring. Furthermore, a 
mixed stand of gray birch and pine furnishes ideal conditions for 
the spread of gypsy moths. Hence it is generally worth while 
to cut it out of immature pine stands even if the cost of removal 
exceeds its value as cordwood. 

Black birch is an entirely different species. It reaches large 
size, so that its wood can be used for all purposes to which yellow 
birch is put, but it also has a special value of its own for furni- 
ture. The dark heartwood is most highly esteemed for this pur- 
pose and commanded a price of $50 per M at the woodworking 
establishments in 1914. Its stumpage value is also high, $5, as 
the Forest Service figures for 1907 show. This is true in spite of 
the high cost of logging due to the impossibility of finding this 
species in pure stands. 

Yellow birch has already been fully discussed under the hard- 
wood type. 

Oak is the only native hardwood which cuts an appreciable 
figure in the total lumber cut of the United States. It ranks, in 
fact, third, but even then only makes up 8 per cent of the total. 
Nevertheless, it is an important group of species for which the 
stumpage price ranged in 1900 from $1 to $6 with an average of 
$3 for the United States as a whole. Its main uses are for furni- 
ture and cooperage altho it meets a multitude of other demands 
where strength, beauty and durability are factors. Thirty-eight 
per cent of all the lumber used in the United States for furniture 
and fixtures is oak while it furnishes 80 per cent of all the tight 
barrel staves and a high percentage of the slack staves. Still 
another important use is for cross ties, 44 per cent of the country's 
annual output being from this genus alone. 

High grade furniture oak, especially that which is to be quar- 
tered, has the most stringent specifications. The logs must be 
of large size, at least 10 inches in diameter inside the bark at the 
top end, and free from all defects. Plain oak furniture stock is 
only slightly less perfect. For tight cooperage staves perfect logs 
must be employed but on account of the short lengths used the 
utilization can be somewhat closer than for furniture lumber. 



TIMBER VALUATION 



45 



Slack staves need not, of course, be made from such valuable trees 
but still very few defects are allowable. Into railroad ties may 
be thrown any sound oak which will give a seven-inch face, eight 
feet long, and be at least six inches thick. This is the standard 
for a No. 3 railroad tie. No. i ties must have a nine-inch face 
and be seven inches thick and sold for about 75 cents each or 
about $20 per M in 191 5. They are usually worth 100 per cent 
more than No. 3 ties so that it pays better to put anything but 
No. I and No. 2 tie material into cordwood where oak firewood 
brings $8 or more per cord. 

Oak seldom occurs in pure stands in this type so its logging 
and manufacture are comparatively expensive from all points of 
view, hardness, weight, and scattered location of the trees. 

Average costs were as follows in 1914: 

PerM 

Felling and bucking ' $1 . 50 

Skidding 2.00 

Hauling 2.00 

Milling 3.00 

Marketing i . 00 

$9.50 

The manufacture of quartered oak cost even more because of the 
many logs which must be rejected and the extra care needed in 
sawing. Tie making cost 10 to 15 cents per tie, or $4 to $6 per 
M, to which must be added the cost of hauling the ties to the rail- 
road. Cordwood cutting could be contracted for $1.50 to $2 
per cord or $3 to $4 per M while dehvery usually cost about $2 
per cord more. Summing up, a tract of oak lumber may bring 
a stumpage price of $3 to $15 per M to which may be added 
$4 more, if ties and cordwood can be made out of the tops and 
small trees. 

Elm is an unimportant hardwood which occurs sparingly in 
this type. Its average stumpage price, $3 per M, 1900 census, 
is low for accessible timber even tho it can only be employed 
successfully for certain special uses. It is a fairly hard, fairly 
heavy wood which is not durable and is most valuable for vehicle 
stock where its toughness commends it for such purposes as 



46 WHITE PINE TYPE 

hubs. It is also somewhat used for boxes and crates and for 
furniture parts which will not be seen such as drawer backs. 
All the species are thrown together commercially, but white and 
rock elm make up 80 per cent of the total cut in the United States. 
Of these two, rock elm is the tougher but does not reach such large 
size. An average sale value at the woodworking plant for elm 
lumber was $30 per M in 1914 but this must be wide, selected 
stock. The logging and milling are expensive and could seldom 
be handled for less than $10 per M. Close to centers of popula- 
tion the cordwood in the tops and small trees could be marketed 
for about $4 per cord so that there was a possibility of increasing 
the gross yield per tree by that much, there being at least a cord 
of wood in the limbs and tops to the thousand feet of lumber. 
Hence the largest possible gross returns that could be expected 
were $34 per IM. From this should be deducted $10 for logging 
and milling, a variable amount for freight and $2 to $3 for cord- 
wood making and delivering. This left a possible margin for 
stumpage and profit of about $15 per M. In spite of increased 
sale values there has been no increase in this margin because 
operating costs have grown at the same or a greater ratio. 

Land Values. — ^Land values within the white pine type are 
difficult to determine accurately for two reasons. First, there 
is the cause already referred to in the spruce and hardwood types, 
that the land is seldom appraised separately from the timber. 
This, however, only holds in the case of large tracts like those in 
northern ]\richigan. In the woodlot region another reason 
obtains. There, farms are sold as a whole and it is difficult to 
separate the values of the tillable land, the buildings and the 
woodland. Nevertheless, the land has a tangible value which 
may be closely approximated by using the prices at which pasture 
is held. Much of this class of land has been allowed to grow up 
to woods so that it now makes up at least one-third of the present 
woodlot area in the older sections like New England. Pastures 
of the rough, stony type which have been allowed to revert to 
woodland are appraised at $5 to $15 per acre and these figures 
may be taken as representative of the better kinds of white pine 
land in the woodlot region. 



TITLES 47 

Productively, too, their value is much the same. On a rota- 
tion of lOO years, with interest at 3 per cent, cost of restocking, 
$10. annual charges, 50 cents, and a final yield of 50M board feet 
worth $10 per M the land has a productive value of $7 per acre. 
This is conservative because a yield of 50M per acre should be 
obtainable without thinning on poor quality soil. 

Titles. — The form of lots within the white pine type differs 
radically in the two main regions where this type occurs. In 
the woodlot section of New England and New York the lots are 
parts of the farms and hence may take any shape. Ordinarily, 
too, they are in small units of 50 acres or less. Hence, the title 
question is always a difficult one. The lots are difficult to locate 
on the ground and still more troublesome in tracing claims of 
titles. Oftentimes it is necessary to purchase a whole farm with 
its arable land and buildings in order to get undisputed posses- 
sion to a piece of timber. In the Lake States, however, the 
situation is entirely different. There the township surveys apply 
and the subdivision of a property into 40-acre units is com- 
paratively simple. Furthermore, the land has little value for 
farming and has never been divided into small holdings. The 
large lumber companies took possession directly from the State 
or United States and there have been few transfers since. Loca- 
tion and title searching in the Lake States white pine region is an 
entirely different problem from that which confronts one in the 
farm woodlot section. 



CHAPTER rV 
SWAMP TYPE 

General Conditions. — This t^-pe is a comparatively unim- 
portant one which occurs scattered here and there among the 
three preceding types. It is all north of Mason and Dixon's 
line and east of the Great Plains. In other words it is confined 
to the glaciated regions. In fact the low lying sites in which it 
occurs are in many cases directly due to glaciation. Beaver 
dams are also a cause for the poor drainage which leads to the 
occurrence of this type. On account of the small extent and 
localized occurrence of this type it is impossible to give its occur- 
rence by states and counties. It is only possible to say in general 
terms where it may occur. 

The climate of the type varies, of course, with the altitude and 
latitude but in general it may be said that the growing season is 
shorter than on the surrounding upland because of the poor air 
drainage. Swamps are more subject to late and early frosts for 
this reason. While the precipitation is the same as that of the 
surrounding country the available moisture is greater because of 
the slow runoff and retarded evaporation. In fact there is too 
much water in the soil for rapid plant growth. 

The height at which water stands has the same effect on root 
development that a layer of hard pan would have. The roots 
cannot reach down but must spread out. Furthermore, a fre- 
quent cause of swampy conditions is an impervious soil whether 
it be hard pan or clay. Consequently the soil conditions may 
safely be said to be very poor for tree growth. Because the 
roots cannot go down, the tree cannot grow tall and diameter 
growth is minimized by the short growing seasons. 

The species which can endure such untoward conditions are 
comparatively few. They must be shallow rooted and frost hardy. 
Arbor xitsc, southern white cedar, tamarack, spruce, balsam, 
and red maple are the commonest. Usually they occur in more 

48 



TIMBER VALUATION 



49 



or less pure stands so that the subtypes are easy to distinguish. 
The reasons for differences in composition are not always clear. 
Lumbering, however, usually favors the light seeded species like 
red maple, spruce and balsam at the expense of the cedars. Con- 
sequently, a cedar swamp seldom comes up to cedar again when 
the poles and posts have been cut out. 

In spite of the poor growth conditions insects and fungi ordi- 
narily do very little damage in the swamp type. The most 
notable exception to this general statement is the damage done 
to tamarack by the larch sawfly in the early 8o's. Nearly all 
the larger trees were killed over wide areas. Butt rot — Trametes 
pini and Polyporus schweinitzii — occurs on all the coniferous 
species found in this type. While fire is very destructive when it 
does get into the type the wetness of the soil prevents this form 
of damage except in very dry seasons. But in droughts swamp 
fires do occasionally occur and are very difficult to extinguish 
because they burn down into the accumulated duff and peat and 
may smoulder for days only to break out anew in fresh places. 

The unfavorable growth conditions have already been referred 
to so that it is merely necessary to add that a swamp cannot be 
expected to produce more than one-half what the spruce and hard- 
wood types will yield in the same time and one-fifth the returns 
from good white pine soil. This is because the trees are shorter 
and smaller, not because they do not stand close enough together. 
Average diameter and height growth figures are as follows: 



25 years 

50 years 

75 years 

100 years 



Tamarack 



dbh. 
2 inches 
5 inches 

7 inches 

8 inches 



Arbor Vitae 



dbh. 

1 inch 10 feet 

2 inches 15 feet 
4 inches 23 feet 
6 inches 32 feet 



Spruce 



dbh. 



I inch 7 feet 

3 inches 14 feet 

4 inches 26 feet 



Timber Valuation, — Estimates of this type present only one 
difficulty, the swampy ground. Hence winter is the best time 
to work in them. The small size of the type usually necessitates 
a high percentage estimate but to offset this the stands are usually 



50 



SWAMP TYPE 



uniform in composition and size so that a 20 per cent estimate is 
commonly accurate enough. The cost should not exceed 15 
cents an acre. 

The stumpage value of all the swamp tree species has been so 
low that it is only recently that data has been gathered in regard 
to them. Cedar is the only species on which the Forest Service 
has figures. Its stumpage rose from $1.32 to $4.63 between 1900 
and 1907, an increase of 250 per cent while the lumber only 
advanced 75 per cent during the same period, from $10.91 to 
$19.14. Even these figures cannot be taken as representative of 
the swamp cedars alone because several western species and the 
southern red cedar arc included under the same name in the Cen- 
sus and Forest Service reports. Hence it is all the more impor- 
tant to present data from which the stumpage value of each 
individual tract may be worked out. 

The most valuable products obtained from the swamps are 
cedar and tamarack poles, ties and posts. The orices of these 
on the cars were as follows in 191 6: 

Each 

Cedar poles $0 . 5o-$4o . 00 

ties 0.50 

posts 0.35 

Tamarack poles o. 50- 10 . 00 

tics 0.50 

posts 0.30 

Spruce and balsam seldom get large enough for more than 
pulpwood, the specifications and prices for which are discussed 
in the chapter on the Spruce Type. 

Red maple cordwood brought a price of $5 in four-foot lengths 
in 191 5 where the market was good. 

The minimum sizes required are as follows: 

Poles — 20 feet long and 4 inches in diameter at the top end. 
Ties — 8 feet long, 6-inch face and 6 inches thick. 
Posts — 8 feet long and 3 inches in diameter at the top end. 
Cordwood — 4 feet long and 2 inches in diameter at the small end. 

Logging and manufacturing costs in 191 6 may be summarized 
as follows: 



TITLES 51 

Per lineal foot 

Poles — cutting and peeling $0.02 

hauling 10 miles 0.02 

Total $0.04 

or $1 for a 25-foot pole. 

Ties — cutting, hacking and peeling $0.10 

hauUng 5 miles .- 0.20 

Total $0 . 30 

Posts — cutting $0 . 03 

hauling 5 miles o 05 

Total $0.08 

Deducting these costs from the sale values given above it is 
clear that it is possible to have margins for stumpage and profits 
as follows: 

Each 

Poles $1 .oo-$3 . GO 

Ties o. 20 

Posts 0.22 

To put this on a board foot basis it will be necessary to assume 
certain equivalents. For poles a conservative converting factor 
is 50 board feet for a 25-foot, 7-inch pole. There are more than 
25 board feet in a tie eight feet by six inches by seven inches. 
A post eight feet by four inches in diameter contains approxi- 
mately 10 board feet. Hence poles may yield a stumpage price 
of $10 to $20 per M, ties $5 to $8 and posts $15 to $20. The 
average figures are, of course, much lower than this on account 
of long hauls, poor markets, and bad management. No figures of 
costs in man hours and horse hours exist for this type. 

Land Values. — Land values are low for this type because it 
yields little in timber and needs expensive drainage before it can 
be made arable. Hence it has little or no^ value unless it can be 
drained and turned into celery beds or flooded for cranberry 
growing. 

Titles. — Title problems have already been discussed for the 
hardwood and white pine t}^es so that no further remarks are 
necessary for this type since it does not differ from the surround- 
ing upland in title history. 



CHAPTER V 

SOUTHEASTERN PINE TYPE 

General Conditions. — This region lies along the Atlantic sea- 
board from southern New Jersey to Central Texas. It is made 
up of low lying, comparatively level sandy lands which seldom 
rise more than 500 feet above sea level. It is part of what 
geologists call the Coastal Plain. Between it and the southern 
bottomlands there is no hard and fast line. The difference 
between the two is simply one of soil drainage and fertility. With 
the southern hardwood belt, however, there is a sharper contrast. 
The pines quickly give place to the hardwoods as the hills of the 
Piedmont plateau with their stiff clay soil rise from the sandy 
coastal plain. 

The climate is like that of the bottomlands, hot and moist. 
The winters are short. Scarcely a single month during the year 
has an average temperature below freezing even in the northern 
extension of the region. The precipitation is heavy, over 45 
inches, and has a distinct period of maximum fall during mid- 
summer. The evaporation is naturally great with the high aver- 
age temperature. Runoff would also be rapid were it not for the 
gentle slopes but this is offset in part at least by the openness of 
the sandy soil. Taking all the factors into consideration the 
climate may not be said to be especially favorable to tree growth. 
The evaporation and runoff affect the heavy precipitation so 
that there is frequently a deficiency of soil moisture. This is 
reflected in the openness of the stands and the adaptations of the 
foliage to prevent excessive transpiration. 

The topography has already been described in a general way 
and there is little that needs to be added. It does not present 
local variations but is remarkably uniform. Extending from the 
low sand dunes of the coast west to the foothills of the Piedmont 
Plateau, the Coastal Plain is described by its name. It is a plain 
without marked elevations or depressions. The soil is Hkewise 
remarkably homogeneous in its sandy character altho there is a 

52 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 



S3 



tendency for it to have less pure sand on the northern edge of the 
Coastal Plain where much material has been brought by the 
streams from the pile of glacial debris to the north. 




Fig. 5. Distribution of the Southern Pine Type 

might be expected from the climatic and soil conditions the 
predominating tree species are ones which can stand a relatively 
small amount of available soil moisture. The longleaf pine was 
originally the most abundant species but lumbering and fire have 



54 SOUTHEASTERN PINE TYPE 

in many places made it second in importance to its more vigorous 
competitor, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.). Shortleaf, pond, 
Cuban, pitch and scrub pine are also found within this type but 
seldom in pure stands over large areas like the longleaf and 
loblolly pines. 

In determining the distribution of tne stands lumbering, fire 
and agriculture are the controlling factors. Virgin timber is 
almost invariably pure longleaf pine. Areas which have been 
logged and burnt may be either longleaf or loblolly but usually 
the latter species is more abundant. Where the land has been 
cleared for tillage, various species may take possession depending 
upon the latitude and the degree of soil exhaustion. In the north- 
ern part of the Coastal Plain in New Jersey, Delaware and 
Virginia scrub pine is generally the first invader on abandoned 
fields with pitch pine occurring only on the poorest portions. 
From Virginia to South Carolina loblolly pine plays the role of 
soil reclaimer while farther south slash or Cuban pine gives 
promise of becoming an important source of revenue on worn out 
lands, and those from which long leaf pine has been cut. 

Were fire kept out of the southern pine region the damage 
would become negligible. Unfortunately, however, there are 
many reasons why the practice of annual burning has become the 
rule. First of all there is the argument that the grazing is im- 
proved by burning out the old grass every spring. Then, too, 
the turpentine hackers like to burn in order to discourage the 
snakes. So potent are these arguments with the natives that the 
owners of turpentine orchards have adopted the practice of 
burning around their tapped trees after the inflammable debris 
has been raked away from the base in order to protect them from 
fire. Nor can this usage be condemned under present conditions. 
As long as fires are allowed to burn unchecked it is better to burn 
lightly annually making provision for the protection of the tapped 
trees than to allow the debris to accumulate around the bases of 
the trees to such an extent that the tree is sure to be burnt thru 
in case of fire. 

Freedom from fires will only come as a result of a long cam- 
paign of public education. Yet it is easy to show that the small 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 



55 



amount of good done in " improving " the grass and killing 
snakes is offset many times by the loss in soil fertihty, small 
trees and mature timber. Furthermore, in addition to these 
direct losses a large amount of indirect damage can be charged to 
burning because it makes the trees more susceptible to fungus and 
insect attack. 

Annually the red rot fungus — Trametes pini — causes 
thousands of dollars' worth of damage to living trees. Special 
care should be taken to see that a tract of timber is not infested 
with it because it works rapidly and thoroughly. 

Another common result of unrestricted burning is a serious 
infestation of pine bark beetles — Dendroctonus pinicola. This 
insect, if unchecked, is capable of killing large amounts of other- 
wise healthy timber as numerous areas in the southeast show. 

Other forms of damage are not serious. Snow-break does not 
occur in the warm climate of the pine belt nor does lightning 
damage more than an occasional tree. Hurricanes may snap 
off all the large trees in their path but fortunately they seldom 
cover large areas. 

Stands per acre under virgin conditions, which nearly always 
means pure stands of longleaf pine, range from 20,000 board feet 
to 5000 board feet with 10,000 board feet as a high average for 
large tracts. Second growth stands vary in volume directly with 
the age so that their possibihties may best be obtained from the 
following growth figures. Yields per acre in cubic feet may be 
converted into board feet by multiplying by seven. 



OPTIMUM GROWTH 





Diameter 


Height 


Density 


Yield per acre 
in cubic feet 




SO 
years 


100 
years 


50 
years 


100 

years 


SO 
years 


100 
years 


50 
years 


100 
years 


Longleaf pine 

Loblolly pine 

Slash pine 


ins. 

7 
16 
16 

9 


ins. 
24 


deg. 

6S 
85 
85 
63 


deg. 

95 
IIO 


200 
ISO 
370 


100 


7125 
7500 
4650 


9000 


Scrub pine 





56 SOUTHEASTERN PINE TYPE 

Timber Valuation. - - On the whole estimating in southern 
pine is simple and comparatively inexpensive. A strip estimate 
covering 15 per cent ought not to cost more than eight cents per 
acre. This is because the surface is level, the stands are not 
dense, there are few species, and the trees are generally of about 
the same size and quality. This uniformity means that only a 
small percent of the total area need be actually covered in the 
estimate. Hence large tracts will give good results with a 5 per 
cent estimate, while a tract has to be less than 30 acres in extent 
to justify a 50 per cent estimate. In fact the only factor that is 
liable to cause difficulty in estimating is the boundary lines and 
even this source of possible error is not present except in one of 
the original thirteen states. Unfortunately the rectangular sys- 
tem of land surveys was not used by the colonists so that the 
property lines do not run in a uniform manner but form an intri- 
cate maze of lines which is often very difficult to unsnarl. Where 
such conditions exist the cost of appraising the timber is pro- 
portionately more expensive. 

The limits of merchantability are commonly uniform because 
the purposes to wliich the timber is devoted do not vary greatly 
from region to region. It is usual to convert the bole into logs 
up to a top diameter inside the bark of not less than five inches. 
Of course where there are large limbs to interfere with the clear 
length there are fewer logs and the top diameter is greater. Tops 
and limbs may be used for firewood or even pulp where there are 
favorable market conditions. Rarely there is a demand for the 
stumps in destructive distillation plants which secure turpentine 
and its byrproducts in this way. 

The remarks concerning estimating which have gone before 
apply merely to the estimating of timber for lumber and cord- 
wood. With longleaf and slash pine turpentine is frequently the 
more important product so that every southern timber cruiser 
should be able to estimate the number of " cups " or " boxes " 
that a tract of pine will yield. This is determined by counting 
the number of cups or boxes which can be placed on a given 
sample area which is representative of average conditions within 
the tract. As with ordinary estimating it is better to take this 



TIMBER VALUATION 57 

sample area in the form of a strip rather than in isolated plots 
because a better average is obtained. The smallest size tree 
which can be cupped is six inches dbh., but it is far better practice 
to bleed no trees less than 10 inches. For boxes the tree must be 
at least 1 2 inches dbh. because boxing naturally injures the tree 
more and it must therefore be sturdier to stand up. With both 
cupping and boxing only one face is possible on trees of the 
minimum diameters. Those between 18 and 24 inches will stand 
two faces. Larger trees will stand three or even four faces but 
care must be taken not to girdle the tree or weaken it so much 
that it will break off easily. In virgin timber the number of 
cups or boxes varies from 35 to 50 per acre with an average of 40. 
Ten thousand five hundred boxes or cups make up a " crop " 
which includes an area of 200 to 250 acres in virgin timber. 
Where the timber has been boxed, areas of 500 to 1600 acres are 
necessary to yield the requisite nurnber of cups for a crop. 

For the important species in this type no separate stumpage 
prices are available. The figures given below are for " southern 
pine": — 

Per M 

1880 $0.05 / 

1890 0.30 

1900 0.7s 

I9I0 3.00 

1920 5.00 

These are, of course, merely averages and do not indicate the 
possible ranges. Generally speaking pine stumpage is more val- 
uable in the north than in the south. Accordingly one may 
expect to have to pay twice as much for the same grade of timber 
in North Carolina as in Texas. This is, of course, merely a reflec- 
tion of the difference in freight rates and the length of haul to 
the mill. 

As far as uses are concerned there is little difference between the 
different parts of the pine belt. Dimension — house frames, 
bridge timbers and railway ties — and rough construction lum- 
ber take the bulk of the annual cut. Only the clearest and best 
goes into flooring and finishing lumber. Between species little 
distinction is made ordinarily, longleaf, slash, shortleaf and lob- 



58 SOUTHEASTERN PINE TYPli 

lolly all being sold under the general caption of " southern pine." 
However, since there is a marked difference in durability great 
care must be taken to get longleaf and shortleaf where the 
lumber must be placed in contact with the ground or used for 
wharfmg or piling. It has been necessary to devise a system 
of grading which will segregate the more durable species. This 
was accompUshed by separating the lumber according to the 
number of annual rings per inch that appeared on the end of the 
board or the cross section of the log. The explanation of this 
apparently arbitrary system of grading is that the less durable 
species like loblolly pine are much faster growing than the more 
durable longleaf or shortleaf. Therefore, a board, a plank, or a 
pile with relatively few rings per inch can be thrown out imme- 
diately where durability is a factor. 

The prices received at the mill for high grade frames or bridge 
timbers are not high absolutely, $30 to $40 per M, but relatively a 
fair value because there is less sawing required than with one-inch 
boards and no planing. Even flooring or inside finish seldom 
brings more than $75 per M f.o.b. the mill and it never makes up 
more than 20 per cent of the scale of the logs sawn up. The tops 
and mill waste can occasionally be marketed locally for $4.00 to 
$6 per cord. Hence an average value of $50 per M at the mill 
is very good indeed. 

From this sale value milling and logging costs must be deducted 
to determine the stumpage value of any particular piece of 
timber. For running thru the saw mill exclusive of planing, 
kiln drying and selling $3 to $3.50 per M is a good average figure 
for large permanent mills equipped to saw high grade lumber. 
Smaller mills will do it for as low as $2 per M but their average 
product is usually less well manufactured. 

Logging costs vary Httle thruout the pine belt. The topog- 
raphy is uniform, labor varies little and methods are standardized. 
The logs are brought from the woods to the railroad with big 
wheels and then shipped into the mill. Occasionally a portable 
mill is set up in the timber or a stream is employed for driving 
but the rule is the large mill fed by its logging railroad. The 



LAND VALUES 59 

following figures are typical of the average operation under the 
conditions in 1914: 

PerM 

Felling and bucking $0. 75 

Hauling to railway 3 . 00 

RaUway freight 3 . 00 

Milling 4.00 

Freight s .00 



$14 



75 



Deducting these costs from an average sale value of $25 leaves 
a margin of $10.25 for stumpage and profit. As a matter of 
fact prices paid for stumpage are now (1920) between $5 and $10 
per M. 

Expressed in terms of man and horse hours per M the following 

figures give an idea of average conditions: 

* 

Man hours Horse hours 

Felling and bucking aj 

Skidding and hauling to mill 8 16 

Milling 4 

Total 14^ 16 

Land Values. — The problem of setting a proper valuation on 
southern pine land is difficult because it has in most cases a poten- 
tial value for agriculture. The climate permits of the raising of 
a variety of crops and the lands are frequently so accessible to 
water or rail transportation that they appear susceptible of 
intensive cultivation. Three factors tend to offset these advan- 
tages, however; in the first place, the sterility of pine soil has 
become a by-word and since there is a large amount of erosion 
due to the open winter and heavy midsummer rains fertilization 
is a constant and heavy charge. Furthermore, there is the cost 
of clearing the land of stumps and the distance to market. 
Twenty-five to fifty dollars an acre must be figured on to put 
the land in shape for thoro cultivation. Altho sandy land is 
well adapted for market gardening if heavily fertilized the dis- 
tance from market militates against a rapid spread of this indus- 
try. Virginia and North Carolina pine lands within a few hours 
of the Baltimore and Philadelphia markets have been profitably 



6o SOUTHEASTERN PINE TYPE 

turned into market gardens but south of there it has only been 
possible to raise certain special crops like early potatoes from 
Florida, for example. Of course, market gardens near the larger 
southern cities have prospered but every section does not con- 
tain a New Orleans or an Atlanta. 

Probably the best criterion of what the average pine land is 
worth for agriculture is the standard set at the recent Cut-over 
Land Conference in New Orleans — April 1 1 to 13, 191 7. There 
it was agreed that $5 an acre was a reasonable figure for raw 
lands which had to be cleared, fenced and cultivated. This 
valuation is not so high that growing a second crop of trees is out 
of the question. In fact it was resolved that many acres were 
"better adapted for forest growth than for agricultural crops." 
Briefly then, while pine land has a potential value for market 
gardening, general farming and grazing, the economic conditions 
must be favorable to make these uses more profitable than 
forestry. For any of these purposes an average value of more 
than $5 per acre does not seem justified. 

Titles. — The same situation with reference to titles prevails 
as in the rest of the south. In the surveyed parts they are reason- 
ably clear and simple but in the old original thirteen states where 
the quarter section system of land surveys was not adopted the 
confusion is almost hopeless. Grants have been issued with 
reckless disregard to prior claims so that there is a network of 
conflicting Unes. This maze has been still further snarled up by 
the loss of records during the Civil War. As a consequence a 
complete abstract of title or even a clear chain of titles is out of 
the question in many places and it is as difficult to locate grants 
on the ground. Much of the land has been considered of low 
value so that no attempt has been made to keep up the fences or 
corners, 



CHAPTER VI 

SOUTHERN BOTTOMLANDS 

General Conditions. — The Dismal Swamp of Virginia and the 
Everglades of Florida are symbolic of the dark and mysterious. 
They have furnished a somber background for many a weird tale. 
But they are also representative of an important type of timber- 
land which furnishes millions of board feet of cypress and tupelo 
gum annually. These characteristic species are only found in the 
wet river bottoms and river swamps of the southeastern United 
States. 

With such a location the climate is mild to subtropical. The 
groNnng season is never less than seven months and may be 
II months in duration. The precipitation is usually over 50 
inches annually, as a glance at a rainfall map of the United 
States will show. The south Atlantic coast, the Gulf coast and 
the lower Mississippi valley are all regions of heavy rainfall. 
Absolute evaporation figures are lacking but the long growing 
season would naturally tend to minimize the effect of the heavy 
precipitation were it not for the great humidity of the swamps. 
This in turn is mainly the result of the slow runoff. The water 
from the higher lands accumulates in the low lying river bottoms, 
converting them into swamps. Hence, it comes about that this 
type has as much moisture available for tree growth as any in 
the United States. In fact there is often too much. Tree 
analyses show that while growth is very rapid on the relatively 
high river banks the same tree species increase very slowly in the 
adjacent but wet " back swamps." 

Besides cypress and tupelo gum the other commercially im- 
portant species are cottonwood, red gum, white ash, live oak, 
holly, mahogany and lignumvitae. Their relative abundance 
and grouping depend upon two factors, the degree of wetness of 
the soU and the amount of logging or clearing. In the perma- 
nently wet back swamps the cypress and tupelo gum have 

61 



62 



SOUTHERN BOTTOMLANDS 



proved themselves capable of distancing all competitors in their 
ability to stand flooding. In fact many individuals of these 
species stand with their roots permanently in stagnant water. 




Fig. 6. Distribution of the Southern Bottomlands 

Along the higher river banks there is not the same monotony of 
composition. " The better growth conditions give rise to keener 
competition. Then, too, there is further complication of clear- 
ing for it was along the river banks that the ante-bellum corn- 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 63 

fields were hewn out of the swamp with cheap slave labor. Altho 
these clearings were subject to destructive floods about once in 
three years the heavy yields from the fertile alluvial soil in the 
two good years tended to offset the loss of the flood year. In 
these old fields cottonwood and ash usually preempted the best 
drained sites while red gum took the second choice. The latter 
is, however, far more abundant numerically because its toler- 
ance permits it to grow well in dense, pure stands. Live oak is 
another species which keeps to relatively high ground if there 
may be said to be any such thing in a river bottom. Holly, 
mahogany and lignumvitae are seldom found in abundance but 
occur scattered sparingly on the better drained portions under- 
neath the other trees. The following subtypes include the 
principal composition combinations which occur commonly: 

Pure cypress. 

Cypress and tupelo gum. 

Pure red gum. 

Mixed white ash and cottonwood. 

Hardwood hammock (in southern Florida). 

Bottomlands are not favorable places for forest fires so that 
this kind of damage is at a minimum. Likewise destructive in- 
sects and fungi are not abundant, whether because fires have not 
weakened the timber or because the frequent floods tend to keep 
them in check has not been yet determined. Beyond a heart 
rot in cypress — called " peck " — all the bottomland tree 
species are unusually free from defects. 

The rapidity of growth on the better drained sites is truly 
remarkable. Individually the intolerant species like cotton- 
wood and ash attain the largest diameter and greatest height but 
in yield per acre the more tolerant red gum and cypress lead. 
The results of growth investigations of the leading species are 
summarized below: 



64 



SOUTHERN BOTTOMLANDS 
ESTIMATED GROWTH IN loo YEARS 



Species 



Ash 

Cottonwood 
Cypress. . . . 
Red gum. . . 



Dbh. 



Ins. 
32 
35 
30 
26 



Total height 



Ins. 
120 

150 
no 
100 



Yield per acre 

(3 inches and 

over dbh.) 



Cubic feet 
10,400 
12,000 



Timber Valuation. — The cost of estimating in this type is 
seldom high, but neither can it be made low. An average figure 
per acre is eight cents with a range from 5 to 15 cents. The 
factors which work against low costs are: 

Inaccessibility. 

Irregularity of boundaries. 

Poor living conditions. 

Danger from snakes and disease. 

Swamp and bottomlands are not frequented by many people. 
Hence they have few roads. Only the hunter, the hog grazer, 
the logger, and the moonshiner are called by business, legitimate 
or otherwise, to penetrate the back swamps and to none is a road 
a necessity. Even the logger prefers to use water transportation. 
Unfortunately, however, the estimator cannot do his work well 
in a boat and must therefore be in the swamp when it is driest 
and hence least accessible by the usual standards. Bottomlands 
are governed entirely by topography so that they will not be 
bounded by any geometric figures of man's de\dsing. This 
makes the task of determining the area of a tract to be estimated 
one of great difficulty. Either the outside boundary must be 
traversed or the estimate strips run close enough together to 
catch up all the major indentations and excresences. The third 
factor is really an outgrowth of the first. Where people do not 
often go for business or pleasure, the living quarters are crude 
makeshifts only. Hence it is usually difficult to find either a 
comfortable logging camp or clean farm house to use as head- 
quarters. If tents are used they must be raised above the flood 
line, protected from roving hogs and cattle, and screened to keep 



TIMBER VALUATION 65 

out dangerous insects and snakes. This type is, in fact, prac- 
tically the only one in which the danger from snakes is a constant 
menace. Rattlesnakes occur in other kinds of timber but they 
are seldom abundant and are not accompanied by the water 
moccasin, one of our deadliest and most active reptiles. Then 
too crocodiles occur in the southern parts of the bottomland type. 
But probably the most serious enemies of the estimator are the 
fleas which disturb his sleep,^ the chiggers which burrow under 
his skin, the mosquito that inocculates him with malaria and yel- 
low fever, and the bacteria that produce dysentery and typhoid 
fever. All are abundant in the swamps. 

There are, fortunately, certain offsetting factors which tend to 
keep down the estimating costs. The stands are fairly uniform 
so that a low percentage estimate is adequate. Rarely is more 
than 15 per cent necessary. Then, too, the merchantable limits 
are fairly constant because practically all the lumber cut from 
the type goes into the general market and the logger does not 
attempt to utilize below a diameter of 10 inches breast high nor 
run his logs above a top diameter of eight inches. 

Stumpage figures for the species in this type are not abundant 
but all that could be secured are given below: 

1900 

Ash $3.03 ($2.75 to $3.10) 

Cottonwood 1 . 45 ^ 1 . 1 5 to 2 . 24) 

Cypress i . 58 

Gum, red 1.68(1.4210 1.72) 

Gum, tupelo 

Oak, live 3.18(1.7010 583) 

They show that live oak and white ash are the most valuable 
species while the other three are not sufficiently valuable to get 
above an average value of $2 per M. It must, however, be under- 
stood that the figures given are averages from the whole United 
States. For the bottomland type they are somewhat too high 
for the species like ash and oak which occur in other types which 
are more accessible. The other species which occur only in this 
type give values which can be taken as representative of con- 
ditions in 1900. 



66 SOUTHERN BOTTOMLANDS 

To determine the stumpage value of the timber on any partic- 
ular tract it is necessary to subtract the costs of logging and man- 
ufacture plus a reasonable profit from the average sale value. 
This latter is, of course, determined by the uses of each species 
and grade. It will, therefore, be necessary to consider in con- 
siderable detail what each species can be used for and how 
much each use will bring. 

Ash and oak have already been discussed under the northern 
hardwood and southern hardwood types so that they need not 
be taken up again. Cypress is a fairly soft, strong wood with 
great durability and a handsome figure. Hence, it has a wide 
variety of uses. It can be used as a substitute for softwoods 
like white pine and yellow pine especially where a durable wood 
is required. As a consequence it is in demand for outside con- 
struction work, railroad ties and telephone poles. For these 
purposes it commanded a price varying from $15 to $30 per M 
at the mill or shipping point in 1914. The higher grades of clear 
lumber brought even better prices because they can be used for 
interior finish. Recently cj^ress wainscoting either stained or 
" brush treated " to bring out the figure has become very popu- 
lar so that the best grades sold for $100 at the mill. Equally high 
prices were paid for the clear lumber used in the consrtuction 
of tanks, silos, and wooden piping, uses in which the workability 
and durability of cypress make it preeminent and without com- 
petition except from the best grades of white pine and redwood. 
Even the poorest grades of cypress are ordinarily salable be- 
cause they can be used for sidewalks and fencing. Hence the 
average value per M is high and may be summarized as follows 
in 191 

10 per cent at $100 . 00 per M $10 . 00 

20 per cent at 60.00 " 12.00 

SO per cent at 40 . 00 " 20 . 00 

20 per cent at 2500 " 5.00 

$47 . 00 

Red gum is another wood which started low in the scale of 
lumber values but has achieved an enviable position. At first 
it was merely used for boxes and crates and little valued for these 



TIMBER VALUATION 67 

purposes on account of its liability to warp and stain in seasoning. 
However, as better methods of kiln drying and sticking were 
developed, it has been more and more used for furniture, gun- 
stocks, and veneers, uses for which a hard, close grained wood 
which will take a good polish are needed but where durability is 
not a factor of importance. The common grades sold for $18 
at the mill in 19 14 and the high quality at not to exceed $30 per 
M board feet. The wood has slight value for cordwood so that 
the tops are usually left in the woods and the slabs and mill 
refuse are either burned as fuel in the mill boilers or thrown on 
the refuse heap. Hence, the average value per M feet log scale 
never exceeded $25 per M. 

Tupelo gum is less valuable than red gum because its light 
color does not permit of its use as a substitute for dark hardwoods 
like black walnut. In fact it finds its highest use merely as a sub- 
stitute for yellow poplar or basswood neither of which are used 
for high grade furniture fronts. However, where handsome 
figures or durability are not required but softness and elasticity 
are assets tupelo gum is being employed more and more. The 
lower grades are usually discarded so that its average value per 
M log scale was never more than $18 in 1914 and frequently less. 
Like red gum it is difficult to season. 

Cottonwood has about the same uses as tupelo gum: boxes, 
furniture backs, buggy and sleigh panels, etc. It is equally hard 
to season, is not hard enough to polish readily, and does not have 
an attractive figure. Hence its average sale value at the mill 
was seldom more than $15 per M, nor could the tops be put to 
any use for fuel or pulp. 

Logging methods differ from those employed in any other type 
because of the water in the swamps. The cheapest way where 
there is enough of it is to make it an ally and drive the timber out. 
This necessitates preliminary seasoning even for cypress so that 
it is a common practice to deaden the trees in advance of logging 
and allow them to dry out standing. This same method is 
applied with all the swamp species except ash which floats 
readily green. Skidding and hauling to a drivable stream may 
be accomplished in several ways. Where the bottomlands are 



68 SOUTHERN BOTTOMLANDS 

dry enough steam railways may be used supplemented by horse 
skidders or steam skidders. A cheap and effective way is to 
mount the steam skidder on a flat boat equipped with a steam 
shovel so that it may dig its own channel. Then the skidded 
logs are dropped into the cleared waterway behind the scow and 
floated out to the main stream. The primitive method, but still 
often employed, is to deaden the timber in the early fall, allow it 
to season all winter and then float it out during the spring freshets 
in " roads," so called, which are lanes cut thru the timber during 
dry weather so that the logs may be floated out. Of course, the 
main disadvantage of this method is the fact that each step in 
the operation must wait for suitable weather conditions. Time 
is money in logging as well as in other industries. 

Bottomland lumber operations are most economically con- 
ducted in large camps because the swamps are inaccessible from 
ordinary habitations. 

The average costs per M in 19 14 for the different steps may be 
summarized as follows: 

Per M 

Deadening $0.15 

Felling and logmaking o . 60 

Skidding 3 . 25 

Hauling or driving to mill i . 00 

Milling and kilndrying 4 . 00 

A fair day's work for a crew of two men felling and bucking 
cypress is 7M. Red gum is harder so that 4M per day is normal. 
Cottonwood, tupelo gum, and ash come in between these two. 
Hence the cost in man hours would be as follows : 

Man hours per M 

Cypress 25 

Cottonwood 3 

Tupelo gum 3 

White ash 3 

Red gum 4 

The cost to the mill likewise varies with the species. Those that 
float can be transported for eight man hours per M while those 
that must be hauled five miles will cost about six man hours and 



LAND VALUES 



69 



16 horse hours if wagons are used. The milling time ranges from 
four to ten man hours per M. Red gum is particularly hard to 
season. 

Summarizing the data for the bottomland species gives the 
following results: 



Ash 

Cottonwood 

Cypress 

Gum, red. . . 
Gum, tupelo 
Oak 



Costs 



1)9 00 
9.00 
9.00 
9.00 
9.00 
9.00 



Average 
sale value 



15 .00 

24 50 
20.00 
18.00 
25.00 



Margin 

for profit and 

stumpage 



^24.00 

6.00 

15-50 

II .00 

9.00 

16.00 



Land Values. — The soil in this type has a large potential agri- 
cultural value if it can be drained and protected from floods. 
When this can be done it is easily worth $100 an acre for the pro- 
duction of corn, cotton, or truck. But, unfortunately, this 
involves great expense in nearly every case. A short ditch levee 
will not answer. The ditches must be miles in length, carefully 
leveled, and properly interlaced. There is usually only a slight 
fall and the distribution of this fall over an elaborate network of 
ditches is an engineering task of no small magnitude. The 
levees, too, must be conceived and constructed on a large scale. 
Unless the river is kept within bounds for long stretches the 
floods will turn the flank of the levees. 

Another factor which influences the agricultural value of these 
lands is the season at which they are liable to be flooded. If the 
floods come during the eai;ly spring the water will subside before 
the spring planting needs to be undertaken. The damage done 
can often be repaired. But if the streams rise during midsum- 
mer when the corn or cotton is full grown the loss is irreparable. 
The Mississippi is more liable to early spring floods and summer 
floods are rare because the periods of high water are commonly 
due to the melting of the snow at their headwaters. In the 
Atlantic coast streams the conditions are different. They rise 
in the southern Appalachians where there is no great accumula- 



70 SOUTHERN BOTfOM LANDS 

tion of snow. Hence spring floods are of minor importance. 
The period of heavy precipitation comes in the summer so that 
crops planted in the bottomlands of North Carolina, South 
Carolina, or Georgia are lost about once in every three years. 
Consequently large drainage schemes are not so practicable in 
the Atlantic Coast states as in the Mississippi valley where the 
Federal government has already spent large sums on levees and 
drainage canals. This difference in the season of flooding is 
reflected in the prices conmionly paid for bottomlands. Lands 
on the eastern coast seldom bring more than $30 an acre when 
cleared, whereas the Mississippi lands seldom sell for less than 
$50 an acre. To determine the value of the bare land the cost 
of clearing must be deducted. This will be not less than $25 an 
acre. 

For timber productive purposes bottomland is worth $10 an 
acre assuming a linal yield of looM per acre worth $10 per M, a 
rotation of 100 years, interest at 3 per cent, cost of regenera- 
tion $10 per acre, and 50 cents an acre annually for protection 
and administration. 

In timberland sales the value of the land plays an insignificant 
role in this type as with most other kinds of timberland but it is 
nevertheless true that bottomlands have as high a potential agri- 
cultural value as any type of timberland — if they can be drained. 

Titles. — The title problems differ with the method of land sub- 
division. In all the thirteen original states there is confusion of 
ownership, a network of overlapping grants, and a multiplicity 
of claims of titles. Where the state lies wholly or in part ^^'ithin 
the bounds of the Louisiana or Gadsen Purchase the square 
section system prevails and there is greater clarity. In both 
cases, however, the irregularity of the swamp outlines is an 
obstacle to easy description. Commonly it is necessary to 
include small parcels of upland in rounding out bottomland hold- 
ings. 

Still another difficulty in tracing past ownership is due to the 
destruction of land records during the Civil War. The bottom- 
lands lay in the war zone and many of the old landmarks and 
records were razed at that time. 



CHAPTER Vn 
SOUTHERN HARDWOODS 

General Conditions. — Immediately south of the white pine 
type a vast body of hardwood timber extends southward along 
the Appalachian Mountains to Alabama. Westward the plains 
at the root of the Rocky Mountains are the Kmit of this hard- 
wood timber. On the north it does not reach farther than south- 
ern Connecticut and southern New York as a type but its out- 
posts occupy the warmer sites within the pine type. In the 
United States it is unique and constitutes our greatest source of 
hardwood lumber. The only similar bodies of timber are those 
which occupy the ridges of the lower ranges in France — the 
Ardennes, the Vosges, the Cote d'Or, the Cevennes, and the 
Pyrenees — and the Carpatliian Mountains in Austria, but none 
of these possesses the extent, the variety of species, or the ra- 
pidity of growth that our hardwood belt does. The accompany- 
ing map shows its distribution. 

The region is characterized by mild winters, long summers, and 
medium to heavy precipitation. The growing season ranges 
from six months — May to October — - in the north to seven 
months in the south — April thru October. The rainfall is 
heaviest on the southwestern end of the Appalachians in North 
Carohna where it totals over 65 inches per annum. The lowest 
precipitation in the type is found on its western edge where grass 
takes the place of trees. For example in Missouri the rainfall 
ranges between 34 and 47 inches. As might be expected from the 
long growing season the evaporation or flyoff is much greater than 
in the t>pes previously considered. The total amount of mois- 
ture available for plant growth is still further reduced by the 
rapid runoff which takes place on the hillsides. In fact there is 
probably no place in the United States, with the possible excep- 
tion of the southwest, where the erosion is so great. Denuded 

71 



72 



SOUTHERN HARDWOODS 



hillsides arc quickly gullied by the heavy summer rains and even 
during the winter erosion keeps up at a rapid rate because the 
ground is not protected by snow but is alternately frozen and 




Fig. 7. Distribution of the Southern Hardwood Type 

thawed so that the top layer of soil is rapidly broken up and 
sloughs off down hill. 

On account of the rapidity of erosion the characteristic topog- 
raphy of the type is an alternation of sharp ridges and narrow 
valleys. There are no natural lakes in the southern Appala- 
chians or middle and lower Mississippi valley. 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 73 

This type has a greater variety of species than any other forest 
type in the United States because it is the meeting ground ol 
northern and southern species. The cool summers on the 
mountaintops allow such species as white pine, hemlock, and red 
oak to extend their range southward while typically southern 
species like loblolly and shortleaf pine, yellow poplar and cucum- 
ber tree have worked their way from the foothills up on the higher 
elevations. While it is impossible on a small scale map to sub- 
divide the hardwood region, in the examination of any particular 
tract it soon appears that there are three distinct types with 
different climatic and soil conditions and consequently a distinct 
tree composition. The mountain valleys ■ — called coves in the 
southeast — with deep, rich, alluvial soil, well watered, possess 
the greatest variety of species. In fact all the kinds of trees 
would grow here by preference, but yellow poplar, hemlock, the 
oaks, the hickories, and occasionally the chestnut possess greater 
reproductive capacity, more rapid growth or greater tolerance, so 
that they are usually able to crowd out other species. Normally 
a cove stand which has been untouched by the lumberman's 
axe is either pure hemlock, pure chestnut, or a mixture of yellow 
px)plar, white oak, cucumber, hickory and hemlock. In this 
type is found the best timber. It has been the main source of the 
yellow poplar for which the southeast is so famous. But while it 
produces large, long boled timber the stands are seldom very 
heavy. While hemlock coves may occasionally cut better than 
30,cx>o board feet per acre the average for the type is nearer 
15,000 feet because the hardwoods do not stand so close together 
as a tolerant species like hemlock. Unfortunately, also, the total 
extent of the coves is not great. They seldom occupy more than 
1 5 per cent of a tract and 5 per cent would more nearly repre- 
sent the mountain conditions. Hence, reports of tracts in the 
southern Appalachians which average 10,000 board feet to the 
acre over large areas are always open to serious question. It is 
the two other types, slope and ridge, which make up the bulk of 
such tracts and their average stands are much less than that of 
the cove type. 
The slope type is an intermediate one between the cool, moist 



74 SOUTHERN HARDWOODS 

climatic conditions of the cove type with its deep alluvial soil and 
the ridge type which as its name implies occupies the overdrained 
ridges where the soil is shallow and sterile and evaporation and 
transpiration are at their maxima on account of exposure to wind 
and sun. Since, then, the soil of the slope type is not quite so 
well supplied with moisture as the cove type nor the soil so deep, 
only the hardier tree species will be found climbing up thru it 
from the more sheltered coves. On the margin where the two 
join it is cUtlicult to draw the dividing line by composition alone, 
but at the upper edge where the slope type merges into the ridge 
type no yellow poplars, cucumber trees or hemlock are found. 
Typically its composition by number in virgin stands is as follows: 

Per cent 

Oaks 30 

Chestnut 20 

Yellow poplar 10 

Black cherry 5 

Hickory 5 

Hemlock 5 

Other species 15 

100 

The average stand per acre under virgin conditions is 5000 
board feet. Naturally it is the most extensive type in the south- 
ern Appalachians. It usually makes up at least 60 per cent of the 
total area of a mountain tract. 

In the ridge type the number of species is still further reduced. 
Chestnut and hickory occur sparingly but the important species 
are chestnut oak and shortleaf pine. The latter preempts the 
southern and western exposures while the chestnut oak is more 
abundant on the cooler north and east slopes. Seldom do virgin 
stands average more than 2000 board feet per acre. Fortunately 
for the productive capacity of the region this type is compar- 
atively limited in area. It usually occupies not more than one- 
third of a tract. 

Fire is here as everywhere the great enemy of the forest. The 
drier slope and ridge types suffer most. The latter has usually 
been burnt over at least every other year and frequently annu- 
ally. As a consequence most of the trees are fire scarred at the 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 



75 



butt and more or less damaged by insects and fungi as a result. 
Amongst the hardwoods, however, loss from insects and fungi is 
not serious, probably because there are few pure stands. With 
pine, on the other hand, which occurs in pure groups, insect 
damage is frequently very serious, usually after the tree has been 
weakened by fire. For example, in 1890-1892 the southern pine 
beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis, killed practically all the mature 
shortleaf pine and pitch pine in an area extending from North 
Carolina to southern Pennsylvania and aggregating over 75,000 
square miles. ^ Fortunately chestnut blight is the only serious 
fungus enemy as yet reported from any of the three types altho 
there are many species which will attack trees which have been 
weakened by fire. 

The growth of individual trees in diameter and height is usually 
very rapid as the following figures show : 



Yellow poplar 

Chestnut sprouts. . 
Chestnut seedlings 

Locust 

Hemlock 

Red oak 

Black oak 

Red cedar 

Shagbark hickory. 



8-57 
8"-so' 

5"-2S' 
7"- 
5"-35' 
4 "-40' 
5"- 

2 -25 



iS"-83° 
13-77° 
ii'-65" 
12"- 
II "-64° 

i3"-7o° 
11"- 

6 "-45° 
7"-5o° 



19 -93 

i7"-88° 

i6"-8o° 

15"- 
i6"-82° 

i5"-85° 
14"- 
i2"-6o° 
io"-67° 



22 -100 

2o"-93° 

2o"-9o° 

16"- 

2o"-98° 

i6"-95°, 

15"- 

i8"-6s° 

13 "-80° 



But in spite of the rapid growth of single trees the yield per acre 
per annum is not high because the trees do not stand close to- 
gether. Generally speaking the density per acre is one-half to 
one-third of that in the types previously considered. This is due 
to the lack of available moisture. Both the runoff and the flyoff 
are rapid and hence there is not as much available for tree growth 
as in the cooler northeast. The low average yields per acre in 
virgin stands have already been referred to and the yield figures 
available tell the same story, large trees individually but few per 
acre. 



1 See reports by Dr. A. D. Hopkins, U. S. Bureau of Entomology. 



76 



SOUTHERN HARDWOODS 



YIELD PER ACRE — SOUTHERN HARDWOODS 
U. S. Forest Service Data 



Scrub pine, Maryland. . . . ; 
Yellow poplar, Virginia. . . 
Yellow poplar, Tennessee. 

Hickory 

Red cedar 



Quality l site, pure, even aged stands 



cubic feet 
2510 
3425 
2000 

75 



cubic feet 
4650 

545° 

4000 

500 

1500 



cubic feet 



925 
2400 



cubic feet 



1300 



These figures are unsatisfactory at best because they do not 
differentiate between the types, cove, slope and ridge. Unfor- 
tunately, there are no really satisfactory yield data in existence. 
However, as a guess, using the meagre information available, the 
average annual growth conditions in even aged stands is esti- 
mated to be: 

Cubic feet 

Cove 50 

Slope 30 

Ridge 10 

Or in other words it is unreasonable to expect in a rotation of 
100 years more than the following amounts unless the stands are 
thinned intensively: 

Cubic feet Board feet 

Cove 5000 30,000 

Slope 3000 18,000 

Ridge 1000 6,000 

And even these figures could not be realized unless there was 
complete stocking and thoro fire protection. 

Timber Valuation, — It is difficult to generaKze in regard to the 
method:3 of estimating. There are so many variable factors. In 
the first place the size of the tracts differs greatly in the different 
regions. In the southern Appalachians they tend to be large 
because there are few farms to cut them up, but even there there 
is no uniformity. The grant system of selling land has led to the 
setting aside of small holdings of less than 100 years in between 



TIMBER VALUATION 77 

the boundaries of the larger tracts. In the Ohio and upper Mis- 
sissippi valleys the holdings are commonly small since they are 
merely portions of farms which could not be tilled to advantage. 
Obviously a larger per cent of a small tract must be estimated 
than of a large tract. 

Another complicating factor is the variation between tj^es. 
This has already been referred to. Fortunately, however, the 
type which contains the most timber, the cove type, is the most 
accessible while the scantily timbered ridge type is the least so- 
In estimating, therefore, it is not necessary to take a uniform 
percentage of the three types but the amounts covered should 
stand in the ratio of 5 : 3 : i. In other words, if a 5 per cent 
estimate is to be made of the ridge type, 1 5 per cent of the slope 
type should be covered, and 25 per cent of the cove type. 

The third obstacle to be overcome is the variation in merchant- 
able limits. Each species must be investigated locally before it 
is impossible to say to what size it should be estimated because 
the diameter limits are determined by the local markets. In 
general, however, it may be said that lumber should not be esti- 
mated below 10 inches dbh. and six inches in the top, cord wood 
eight inches dbh. and four inches in the top, poles to a top diam- 
eter of five inches and posts to three inches at the top end. 

The actual costs per acre of estimating southern hardwoods 
run from 45 cents to 3 cents with an average of 10 cents per 
acre where the work is done in the usual way, i.e., strips 66 feet 
wide run out from the base line in cardinal directions so as to 
cross the topographic features as nearly as possible at right angles. 

The Twelfth (1900) Census gives the following figures for aver- 
age stumpage values for the species in this typ^ : 

Per M 

WTiite pine $3 . 66 

Hemlock 2.56 

Shortieaf pine 1.12 

Black walnut 5 . 00 

Chestnut 2. 71 

Oak, white 318 

Yellow poplar 2.81 



ijS SOUTHERN HARDWOODS 

These have, of course, no interest at the present time except 
a historical one and to show relative values. 

What the stumpage prices may be on any tract depends upon 
the cost of logging and manufacture and the average sale value 
for the lumber f.o.b. the mill. For softwoods, including yellow 
poplar, the following figures were conservative in 1914: 

PerM 

Felling and bucking $1 .00 

Skidding 2 . 00 

Hauling to the mill 4 . 00 

Sawing, planing and loading 7 .00 

Total $14.00 

Hardwoods cost at least S5 more per M because the felling, haul- 
ing and sawing are more expensive on account of the greater 
weight, hardness and crookedness. 

In order to determine costs with varying labor prices average 
costs in man and horse hours per INI are given below, separately 
for hardwoods and softwoods: 





Softwoods 


Hardwoods 




Man 
Hours 


Horse 
Hours 


Man 
Hours 


Horse 
Hours 


Felling and bucking 

Skidding and hauling to mill (5 miles) 
Milling 


3 
6 

4 


16' 


6 

10 

■ 6 


25 






Totals 


13 


16 


22 


25 





Since labor makes up 80 to 90 per cent of the total cost of these 
items it is possible to get a very close approximation of the whole 
charge from these figures. 

The uses to which white pine and hemlock are put have already 
been discussed. Shortleaf pine, like most softw^oods, has a 
variety of uses. The better grades command a good price as 
flooring and interior finish, wliile the poorer grades make excel- 
lent common lumber, railroad ties and wood pulp. The prices 
which material fit for these various uses brought in 19 14 were as 
follows f.o.b. the mill: 



TIMBER VALUATION 



79 



Floorins; and finish (30 to 35 per cent of the total cut) $25 . 00 per M 

Common lumber lo.oo per M 

Railroad ties lo.oo per M 

Wood pulp 5 . 00 per cord 

Black walnut, hickory, chestnut, and oak have already been 
discussed under the white pine type so it is not necessary to detail 
here the uses to which they are put and the values received for 
the various grades. 

Yellow poplar is one of our most valuable and widely used 
woods. On account of its large size, clearness, and softness it is 
in great demand for interior finishing. For this purpose it com- 
manded a value at the mill of $40 per M in 1914. The lower 
grades go into boxes, crates, vehicles, etc., in fact everywhere 
where durabiHty in contact with the ground is not a prerequisite. 
The average mill run value was $25 per M in 1914. The tops 
and limbs may be worked up into pulpwood and brought $5 to 
$9 per long cord at the pulp mills in 1914. 

Black cherry has its main use in furniture where it may be used 
as a substitute for mahogany or in its own name. The wide 
clear boards demanded for this purpose were worth $45 per M 
f.o.b. the mill in 1914. Smaller pieces are worked up into handles 
for small tools. 

Locust has a hard, durable yellow wood which takes a high 
polish. Its most important uses are for insulator pins, railway 
ties and fence posts. The average value of lumber at the mill 
did not exceed $25 per M in 19 14. 

SUMMARY — COSTS AND VALUES 
1914 



Species 



White pine. . . 
Shortleaf pine 

Hemlock 

Black walnut. 

Hickory 

Chestnut 

Oak 

Yellow poplar 
Black cherry. 
Locust 



Logging and manu- 
facturing costs 


Average 
sale value 


Margin for stumpage 
rrice and profit 


$14.00 


$25.00 


$11 .00 


14.00 


20.00 


6.00 


14.00 


18.00 


4.00 


20.00 


40.00 


20.00 


20.00 


25.00 


5.00 


15.00 


20.00 


5.00 


20.00 


25.00 


5.00 


14.00 


30.00 


16.00 


20.00 


3500 


15.00 


20.00 


25.00 


5.00 



8o SOUTHERN HARDWOODS 

Land Values.^ — Land values are easier to determine for these 
types than in the previous ones because all except the ridge types 
have some agricultural value. The coves, in fact, are usually 
deep soiled and fertile enough for fami land and should be so 
used if they are sufficiently large and accessible. In other words 
farming is their highest use if workable farm units can be made 
from them. This is the case except in the mountains, and prac- 
tically all the cove type throughout the Mississippi and Ohio val- 
leys is so used. Its value is mainly determined by its accessibil- 
ity. In a region of railroads and good roads $200 an acre is not 
excessive while uncleared stump land of the same quality and 
having the same climate but inaccessible may not sell for more 
than $10 per acre. For timber productive purposes it is worth 
between $5 and $10 per acre. 

The slope t}^e naturally has a lower value because it will yield 
less. Hence, more than $5 per acre cannot profitably be paid for 
it for forest purposes under present market conditions. It is 
generally too steep for farming but can be used for pasture in 
limestone regions. Other types of soil wash so badly that a grass 
cover cannot be maintained. 

The ridge type is likewise usable for grazing but only lime- 
stone soils w^ll make permanent pastures. For timber produc- 
tion the value is less than $1 per acre because of the excessive 
washing and drainage. 

Taking the three types together the land has practically no 
present value. Sales of large tracts of mountain land including 
the three t}q>es have never taken into account the land values but 
have been based entirely on the amount and quality of the timber 
until the Forest Service began buying land in the southern 
Appalachians. The Government has used the following figures: 

Per acre 

Cove type $5 . 00 

Slope type 3 00 

Ridge type i . cxj 



CHAPTER VIII 
PINON AND JUNIPER 

General Conditions. Location and Extent. — This is the type 
of woodland which occurs on the foothills of the Rocky Moun- 
tains in western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, 
Nevada, California, Idaho and Oregon. Above it lies the western 
yellow pine and below it stretches the plains country with its 
sparse vegetation of sage brush and buffalo grass. 

The climate of the type may be characterized as a hot, dry one, 
but as might be expected in a type with such a wide range there 
is a considerable local variation. The mean annual temperature, 
for example, ranges from 65 degrees to 45 degrees. With the 
annual precipitation there is less variation. It is quite uniformly 
10 to 15 inches. But again, the length of growing season differs 
greatly from north to south. In New Mexico five to six months 
are free from frost whereas barely four months have mean annual 
temperatures above 32 degrees in the northern part of the types 
range. 

The topography and soil are varied and do not seem to have 
any controlling influence on the distribution of the type. Gen- 
erally, however, it occupies a well drained slope with a deep 
loamy soil but the type is found on shallow soiled hillsides pro- 
vided the climatic conditions are right. 

The two species which give their names to the type are the only 
arborescent forms which occur in any abundance. The pinon, 
Pinus edulis, is not more abundant numerically but the larger 
size which it attains and the edible character of its seeds makes 
it the more important commercially. The junipers, Juniperus. 
are often more numerous individually but their small size makes 
them less valuable for firewood and hence they are the subor- 
dinate species. A striking feature of the type is the openness of 
the stands. The trees are scattered with open places in between 

81 



82 PINON AND JUNIPER 

which are covered with grass if fertile and moist enough but 
bare if dry and sandy. Since the trees arc seldom large enough 
to make saw timber an idea of the total volume can not well be 
expressed in board feet. The cubic foot is the usual unit of 
measurement. The stand per acre seldom exceeds two cords 
and an average for the type thruout its range would be nearer 
one cord. 

The growth is relatively slow on account of the dryness of the 
climate. For yield prediction there is little foundation. The 
type has had so Uttle commercial value that its growth has not 
been investigated. It is only possible to say that the average 
growth per acre per annum does not exceed one-quarter cord. 

Even this small annual accretion may be retarded by such 
parasites as mistletoe and the cedar apple. No especially 
destructive insects have been reported as yet from this type. 

Timber Values. — The only wood products that the type fur- 
nishes arc fence posts and fuel. These may be cut as small as 
an inch at the top end and three feet long. The cost of cutting 
is relatively high on account of the scantiness of the stand but 
labor is cheap so that $2 a cord is usually ample. Delivering 
is done in great part by burros, the wood being bound on pack 
saddles. This costs about 50 cents per mile per cord on account 
of the expense in handling the many small pieces into which fuel- 
wood has to be cut to allow it to be packed readily on the burros. 
As a consequence the total delivered value is in the neighborhood 
of $5 per cord. This leaves a stumpage value of about $1 per 
cord for the owner of the standing trees. 

Land Values. — From the figures given above it follows that the 
pinon-juniper t>TDe has a negative value for the production of 
wood alone. It is only where the tree growth has additional use- 
fulness as a protective covering to prevent erosion and hinder 
rapid runoff that the trees can profitably be retained. This use 
is difficult to measure but it is a real one as the many instances 
where water is conserved in this way for domestic and irrigation 
purposes show. The absolute value depends upon the demand 
but $1 per acre may safely be set as a minimum. An equitable 
way to determine the value in a specific case would be to deduct 



TITLES 83 

from the sale value all costs of construction, as, for example, the 
masonry work in a retaining dam, and assign the remainder as the 
conservation value of the growth on the watershed. To make 
this more concrete assume the case of a town that gets its water 
supply from a valley in the pinon-juniper type. The capital- 
ized value of the annual water rentals in the town amount to 
$5000. The cost of constructing a dam including ail necessary 
roads, interest charges, etc., and the capitalized value of the 
annual costs of operation and maintenance total $4500. This 
leaves a balance of $500 for the conservation value of the water- 
shed, or $2 per acre if there are 250 acres. 

Titles. — Titles present no special difficulties because this type 
usually occurs on land that has been surveyed. This means that 
the boundaries are easy to locate and that transfers have been 
accurately described by quarter sections. Smaller areas have 
not usually been sold because the land has so small a value per 
acre. Its main use is for grazing and at least 40 acres are needed 
to keep a cow or horse during the year. Consequently the 
transfers have commonly been in large blocks for the use of some 
large cattle or sheep outfit. 



CHAPTER DC 
CHAPPARAL 

General Conditions. — The plant formation in which occur 
sclerophyllons, dwarf, evergreen shrubs and trees is confined to 
southern Cahfornia and southern Arizona. Various species of 
shrubs are found but the type takes its name of " chapparal " 
from the dwarf oaks which occur in it. Approximately 10,000,000 
acres are included. 

The rainfall according to the Weather Bureau records varies 
from 9.54 inches at San Diego to 21.42 inches at San Luis Obispo. 
The average is, however, less than 15 inches. 60° F. is the mean 
annual temperature with a range from 22 degrees to 109 degrees 
and hence the evaporation is high. As a consequence there is 
a very small amount of moisture available for plant growth 
more especially since the rainfall is concentrated during the 
winter months and runs off rapidly. 

The length of the growing season is not determined so much 
by the number of months during which the thermometer is above 
freezing but by the period during which there is enough moisture. 

Chapparal is confined to the slopes of the mountain ranges 
which are high enough to be above the arid plains country. 
This is arid because the mountains intercept the rain bearing 
clouds from the Pacific Ocean. Even the drought resisting vege- 
tation of the chapparal cannot creep down into these areas of 
scant rainfall. The type is therefore confined to the lower 
slopes of the mountains of California and Arizona between 
elevations of o to 8000 feet above sea level. The lower Hmit is 
only reached near the Pacific Ocean where the rainfall is relatively 
abundant. Inland the chapparal has to ascend the mountains 
to obtain enough soil moisture. As a consequence the topogra- 
phy of the type is characteristically steep and much cut up while 
the soil is thin. 

84 



TIMBER AND LAND VALUES 85 

Plummer's studies show that in southern California the distri- 
bution of genera by number is as follows: 

Per cent 
Adenostama 39 

Quercus 14 

Ceanothus 14 

Arctostaphylos 10 

Cercocarpus S 

Artemisia 4 

Other genera 14 

100 

Of these only the species of oak (Quercus) attain tree form but 
even they are much dwarfed and can only be used for fuel and 
fencing. 

As might be supposed from the dry climate growth is very slow. 
An annual increment of one-fifth of a cord of firewood per acre 
per annum is the best that may be expected. 

Fire is the worst enemy of the type and may burn the roots so 
deeply that a ground cover will not reestablish itself for years. 

Timber Land and Values. — Since the type furnishes nothing 
but low grade fuel and fencing the question of stumpage values 
can be treated briefly. Were better material available the dwarf 
trees would not even be considered for these purposes but the 
scarcity of trees in the arid region gives chapparal firewood and 
fencing an average value of $8 per cord, delivered. The cutting, 
stacking, seasoning and delivering cost a great deal on account of 
the scattered condition of the trees and the high price of labor. 
Hence there is seldom a margin of more than $3 per cord for 
stumpage and profit. With the average stand of two cords per 
acre, the stumpage value of the timber never exceeds $5 per acre. 

For the conservation of water, however, the chapparal possesses 
a high value whenever settlement creates a demand for domestic 
or irrigation supplies. This is the prime use of the Cleveland, 
Angeles, and Santa Barbara National Forests and without such 
protection the cities of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles 
and Santa Barbara would suffer greatly for lack of water. This 
value is difficult to appraise accurately but $10 an acre does not 
seem an excessive figure where the water supply of a large city is 
in puestion. 



86 CHAPPARAL 

Agriculturally the type is valueless except for a limited amount 
of grazing on account of the arid climate and steep slopes. Goats 
and sheep can obtain a certain amount of winter grazing but this 
use seldom creates a land value of more than $io an acre adjacent 
to settlements. The greater part of this t}T>e which is grazed has 
been considered too poor for private appropriation and remains 
in the hands of the Federal Government. 

Occasionally these lands are valuable for mineral deposits. 

Land Titles. — Titles are seldom difficult to trace because the 
nearness to settlement and demand for mining have forced the 
survey of the lands within the type. Holdings are for the most 
part small. 



CHAPTER X 

WESTERN YELLOW PINE TYPE 

General Conditions. — The timber type in which western yel- 
low pine is the dominant species is found all the way from the 
Canadian line to the Mexican border. Patches of greater or less 
extent occur in all the states west of the Great Plains. Large 
solid bodies do not, however, occur in Nevada. 

With such a range the cHmate of the type must necessarily 
vary within wide limits. For example, the annual average 
temperature varies from 45 degrees to 60 degrees while the num- 
be'r of months during which there is no growth on account of cold 
range from three in southern New Mexico and Arizona to seven 
in northern Montana. In fact the only climate factor which is 
fairly uniform is the annual precipitation. This never exceeds 
25 inches and has a normal range between 15 and 20 inches. Its 
distribution is not, however, nearly so regular. In the southwest 
44 p>er cent of the annual precipitation comes in the summer 
months of June, July and August while in the northwest only 
25 per cent falls during the same period. Such a wide range of 
climatic conditions has naturally resulted in considerable varia- 
tion in the form of the species. In the warmer and drier parts of 
its range where the scant rainfall is barely sufficient the cones are 
small and the seeds encased in thick scales. Where there is more 
abundant moisture the cones are larger and do not retain the 
seeds so tenaciously. 

The yellow pine type is confined to the foothill region of the 
Rocky Mountains and hence occurs on the lower slopes of the 
higher mountains. These are usually alluvial in origin or at 
least covered with loam, sand or gravel to a good depth. The 
exact effect of the soil upon western yellow pine has not been 
definitely determined because it grows thriftily on a variety of 
soils provided they are well drained. Swampy or alkaline soils 

87 



WESTERN YELLOW PINE TYPE 




Fig. 8. Distribulion of the Western Yellow Pine T>T>e 



. GENERAL CONDITIONS 89 

are apparently unfit. But the soil seems to be secondary in 
importance to the climate. In other words yellow pine is now 
occupying the foothill region of the Rocky Mountains not 
because the soil conditions are particularly favorable but because 
it has been more successful than any other western species in 
adapting itself to the cUmatic conditions which characterize the 
foothill region. 

Western yellow pine is so predominant within the type that 
the other species which sometimes occur with it may be briefly 
disposed of. On the lower edge of the type where the foothills 
run out into the plains pinon and juniper advance a short dis- 
tance into the type. On the upper edge or on north or east slopes 
within the type Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, western larch, and 
Alpine fir sometimes occur but all these species are typical of 
climates cooler and moister than that of the yellow pine type. 
Hence for the present purpose the type may be said to be uni- 
formily pure in composition. The other species are never of 
great commercial importance. 

Damage is confined to four main causes, fire, insects, fungi and 
wind. Of these the most active, the most serious, and yet the 
easiest prevented is fire. The white man has adopted the 
Indian's habit of frequent burning so that there is scarcely an 
acre of the type that has not been burnt over at one time or 
another. The danger is the more insidious because the apparent 
damage done is small. The mature trees are thick barked, crown 
fires are rare and a fire seems to merely burn up old grass and use- 
less fitter. But countless young trees are killed in this way, the 
soil is impoverished and an investigation reported by T. T. 
Hunger in the Proceedings of the Society of American Foresters 
for April, 191 4, shows conclusively that serious harm is done the 
mature timber. He concludes that, " each surface fire, no matter 
how fight, kifis a merchantable tree to each two or three acres, 
fire scars 42 per cent of the remaining merchantable trees so that 
they may fall victims to the next high wind or surface fire, and 
' pitches ' the butts of a large proportion of the best trees." 

But more serious in the long run than this direct damage is the 
indirect loss thru the trees being weakened by fires so that they 



go WESTERN YELLOW PINE TYPE 

fall an easy prey to insects and fungi. One of the most destruc- 
tive members of the genus Dedroctonus, or bark beetles, attacks 
western yellow pine and if the conditions are favorable for its 
rapid increase damage over a wide area may result. For example 
in the Black Hills of South Dakota the numbers of this beetle 
increased so rapidly that practically all the mature timber over 
an area of 500,000 acres was killed and forced sales were neces- 
sary to salvage any of it. The National Forests in California 
are having a similar experience at the present time. Such 
infestations get started because the beetles find weakened trees 
in which they may breed in large enough numbers so that they 
successfully attack vigorous trees and overcome them by sheer 
force of numbers. In fact this habit of seeking out weakened 
individuals where there are but few of the beetles is taken advan- 
tage of in combating infestations in the early stages. So called 
" trap " trees are girdled in the late summer so that the beetles 
may lay their eggs in them. Then these trap trees are felled, 
peeled, and the grubs destroyed before the adult beetles can 
emerge the following spring. 

In the same way certain species of fungi, notably red rot, 
Trametes pini, attack the western yellow pine when trees have 
been weakened by fire or other causes and spread rapidly unless 
the surrounding timber is thoroughly sound and healthy. 

With the great variety of climatic conditions under which 
yellow pine grows it is natural that there should be a Avide range 
in rates of growth. The following figures are for growth under 
favorable natural conditions but do not represent what can be 
done under intensive management. 





GROWTH IN 100 YEAR 


S 






Diameter 


Height 


Arizona 


Inches 
14 
20 
13.2 


Degrees 
48 


California 


94 


Oregon 


62 







Unfortunately no accurate figures can be presented for density 
and yield per acre in a given time. It is only possible to state 



TIMBER VALUES 9I 

in a general way that from 75CX) to 17,500 board feet — 1500 to 
3500 cubic feet — has been grown under natural conditions in 
100 years. Protection and thinning should, of course, greatly 
increase these yields. 

Timber Values. — The cost of estimating stands of yellow pine 
should be relatively low because the topography is not rough, the 
stands are of a uniform density and size, and the Government 
section — a square mile — is the standard unit of subdivision. 
Hence, the cost per acre for an estimate which shows the amount 
and quality of the timber, the topography and the cost of logging 
should not exceed 5 cents for a 10 per cent estimate. The 
only feature that is liable to increase this cost is the presence of 
box canyons which must be crossed. This is always time con- 
suming and sometimes dangerous. 

A 10 per cent estimate is usually intensive enough because of 
the uniformity in the stands and the present relatively low value u- 
of the timber. 

The smallest merchantable tree at the present time is one with 
a top diameter of 10 inches while logs can seldom be run higher 
than to a diameter of six inches in the tops. 

The average stumpage value of western yellow pine according 
to the 12 th Census was slightly over $1 per M. This was 20 
years ago and prices have of course risen in the meantime but the 
fact remains that this tree does not yield a large per cent of high 
grade finishing lumber. It is mostly used for framing and rough 
construction so that while it is true that about 15 per cent of it 
on the average brought $30 to $40 f.o.b. the mill in 1916, the 
mill run sold for not more than $20 per M. Only rarely can 
the slabs, edgings and tops be disposed of to advantage for cord- 
wood. The average grades, the per cent of each and the price 
they bring at mill are given in the table shown on p. 92, com- 
piled from data in Hunger's " Western Yellow Pine in Oregon," 
Bulletin 418, Department of Agriculture. 

The possibility of using this species for turpentine deserves 
mention at least. It was so used in California during the Civil 
War when the southeastern supply was cut off and can be utilized 
again but so far it has not been possible to compete with the 



92 



WESTERN YELLOW PINE TYPE 



Grades 



B and better. . 

C select 

D select 

No. I shop. . . . 
No. 2 shop. . . . 
No. 3 shop. . . . 
No. I common 
No. 2 common 
No. 3 common 
No. 4 common 



Per cent of 
total cut 


F.O.B. value 


6 


$35 oo 


7 


30 oo 


S 


20.00 


lO 


25.00 


i6 


16.00 


7 


II .00 


8 


21 .00 


i6 


14.00 


20 


II .00 


5 


8.00 



southeast under normal conditions by reason of the cheap negro 
labor obtainable in working long leaf pine. Hence, the turpen- 
tine value need not be reckoned in calculating the stumpage price 
of the average tract. 

The normal method of utilizing western yellow pine is to fell 
and buck the trees into logs 16 feet long, bunch the logs, use 
four-wheeled truck or big wheels to get them to the railroad and 
then freight them to the mill. Portable mills have not been used 
to any great extent because the difficulty in getting water in 
suitable quantities has made it better to locate a large mill in a 
central place. Then too such a mill is better equipped to turn 
out the higher grades. This is an advantage since the local 
market will not absorb readily the total annual cut and much of 
it must be shipped to such middle western markets as Kansas 
City, St. Louis and MinneapoHs. Average costs in 19 14 were as 
foUows: 

Felling and bucking $1 . 00 

Skidding and hauling to railway 4 . 00 

Freight to mill, 15 miles 1 . 00 

Milling 5 . 00 

Si I .00 



There is, therefore, a possible margin of S9.75 for stumpage 
and profit if an average sale value of $20 can be secured. No 
account need be taken of possible returns from cordwood because 



LAND VALUES 



93 



this is too uncertain. As a matter of fact stumpage prices range 
all the way from $i to $6 per M with $3 a high average. 

Expressed in terms of man hours and horse hours per M the 
costs of an average operation would be as follows: 

Man hours Horse hours 

Felling and bucking 2 

To mill 7 15 

Milling 4 

13 15 

Railway hauling is only about half labor costs so that man hours 
are of little value for it. 

Land Values. — Besides its value for the production of timber 
yeUow pine land can frequently be used for agriculture. For 
tliis purpose, however, it cannot have more than a 5 per cent 
slope because other\\'ise it cannot be irrigated and will not " dry 
farm " well by reason of the rapid drainage. But if fairly level 
the land can be used for any crop suited to the climate. In fact 
much of the homesteading in the foothills of the Rockies has 
been done in this type and very good results obtained where there 
was opportunity to irrigate. The cost of clearing the land for 
cultivation is not excessive because there are relatively few 
stumps. Fifty dollars an acre ought to clear and fence such 
land and the net annual returns should total $5, so that its pro- 
ductive value at 3 per cent would be over $100. 

As a private investment the growing of yellow pine is not 
attractive. Even with a stand of 15,000 board feet in 100 
years and interest at 3 per cent a reasonable return cannot be 
secured. Where other considerations enter, however, the returns 
are well worth while. For example, the National Forests yield 
not only timber but watershed protection for the irrigation 
interests and support annually a large number of cattle and sheep. 
Hence from the pubUc point of view the highest use to which any 
of the yellow pine land not fit and needed for tillage can be gut 
is the raising of timber as the main crop. It would therefore 
appear that land of this tj^e should not be cleaned for tillage 
unless it can be irrigated or dry farmed. The tendency has been 
to clear up more land than can be properly farmed. 



94 WESTERN YELLOW PINE TYPE 

While grazing does not bring large returns in itselt — 5 to 10 
cents per acre per annum — it deserves consideration as a second- 
ary source of income since it can be practiced in connection with 
forestry. After suitable reproduction has been secured cattle 
and horses will do little damage to the young trees, and even 
sheep may be allowed to graze the area as soon as the trees get 
more than 10 feet high. 

Titles. — Land disputes are rare within this type because the 
boundary lines are plainly marked and there have not been 
many changes of title since the Federal Goverrmient issued 
patent. For land of level or gently rolling character the mile 
square section system of subdivision is ideal. Furthermore there 
has been little excuse for slipshod work in surve3dng so that yel- 
low pine land is generally well marked and accurately subdivided. 
Likewise the record of transfers is generally free from the con- 
fusion that is found in the archives of the counties which have 
been settled for 30 years or more. 



CHAPTER XI 
LODGEPOLE PINE TYPE 

General Conditions. — This type occurs in the higher mountains 
— at least 4000 feet above sea level — of Colorado, Utah, 
Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Altitudinally it is the next 
important timber type above the western yellow pine and reaches 
nearly to tree Hne on some of the lower and more protected 
mountains. Generally, however, it gives place to Engelmann 
spruce and alpine fir before tree Hne is reached. 

Since it occurs at a relatively high altitude the precipitation 
is naturally greater than in the yellow pine type. Exact figures 
are not available but it seems safe to estimate that the annual 
precipitation averages between 25 and 35 inches. The mean 
annual temperature is low, 40 degrees to 45 degrees, as might be 
surmised from the altitude. Likewise a high percentage of the 
year has temperatures below freezing. In fact the growing 
season does not exceed five months. 

From the previous description it follows that the topography 
is generally steep and rough. Lodgepole pine does, however, 
need a fair degree of Boil depth so that it is never found in abund- 
ance on ledges or rock cliffs. 

Usually no other species is vigorous enough to contest succesls- 
fully with lodgepole pine for the possession of soil adapted to the 
latter. It is a prohfic seeder, a thrifty grower and has few 
enemies. Hence it usually occurs in pure stands over large areas. 
Only occasionally are there small groups of aspen, Douglas fir, 
alpine fir, white bark pine or western larch mixed with it. 

While there is great range in the growth conditions the follow- 
ing figures give a fair notion of what lodgepole pine can do under 
good conditions in 50 and 100 years. 

so years loo years 

Diameter 7.5 inches 9 inches 

Height 46 feet 68 feet 

Density per acre 1250 600 

Yield per acre 2250 cubic feet 10,800 board feet 

95 



96 



LODGEPOLE PINE TYPE 




Fig. 9. Distribution of the Lodgepole Pine and Engelmann Spruce Types 



TIMBER VALUES 97 

Timber Values. — The roughness of the topography is the only 
factor that makes estimating in the lodgepole pine type expensive. 
The stands are uniform in size and density and the section cor- 
ners are easy to find. Therefore, a cost of five cents per acre for 
a 10 per cent estimate is representative of average conditions. 

Lodgepole pine is not quoted separately in the census figures 
because it is only of importance locally, but the stumpage price for 
any particular tract can be figured by deducting the cost of log- 
ging and milling from the sale value of the finished product. On 
account of its small size — very few trees attain a diameter breast- 
high of more than 14 inches — relatively little lodgepole pine is 
sawn. Most of it is used in the round as mining timbers, fencing 
or hewn railroad ties. Moreover, the little that does go thru the 
sawmill makes narrow, low grade lumber which sells for less than 
$30 per M at the mill. The market for slabs and edgings is neg- 
lible and the tops are so small that little cordwood can be cut 
from them, so that no return can be expected except that to be 
obtained from the main bote. 

Since a tie operation is more typical than a lumbering job 
figures \vill be given for the former in order to show what the cost 
of getting lodgepole timber in shape for market is under normal 
conditions. 

Per tie 

Felling, hacking and peeling 15 cents 

Hauling four miles to railway 15 " 

Total cost 30 " 

Value at railway 40 " 

Margin for stumpage and profit 10 " 

To convert this margin per tie to the basis of M feet it is neces- 
sary to multiply by 30 since the average tie contains 33^ board 
feet. Hence the margin per Mis $3.33. Actual stumpage prices 
range from $1 to $5 per M with an average of not more than $3. 
Even this is relatively high for such small sized limiber but lodge- 
pole pine occurs in a region where large timber is scarce and the 
settlers are glad to get almost anything in the way of wood. 

In man hours and horse hours the average costs per M will be as 
follows: 



98 LODGEPOLE PINE TYPE 

Man hours Horse hours 

Felling and bucking 4 

To mill 7 15 

Milling -. 4 

15 15 

Land Values. — Most lodgepole land is too rough to be tilled so 
that its main value is for the production of timber. For this pur- 
pose alone it will not pay a profit but a combination of timber 
raising, grazing and watershed protection does yield well. 

Where the land is not too rough and steep to till and irrigate 
it commands the same prices as raw yellow pine land, $5 to $10 
per acre, and has the same productive capacity. 

For grazing it is not so valuable because the shade of lodgepole 
pine stands does not permit the more valuable grasses to thrive. 
Hence, only so called " weeds " are found in this type and they 
are not palatable except to sheep. Five acres are needed to 
keep a full grown ewe or wether during the summer which means 
a value of about $2 per acre. 

Titles.— Titles are in all respects similar to those in the yellow 
pine type except that the land is less liable to have been surveyed 
because of its greater inaccessibility. 



CHAPTER XII 
ENGELMANN SPRUCE TYPE 

General Conditions. — Capping the tops of the higher peaks in 
northern New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming are unique 
stands of timber which in their luxuriance and density remind 
one of the tree growth of the northeast Qr northwest. In these 
Engelmann spruce is the dominant species. Naturally they do 
not occupy any considerable area because the peaks extend 
upwards and not outwards and they are not much known either 
commercially or scenically. But no description of Rocky Moun- 
tain timber resources would be complete without a reference to 
this very distinct and locally important type. 

On account of the inaccessibility and bleakness of their location 
no accurate, long time climate records have been kept within 
this type. It is merely possible to say in a general way that the 
precipitation is evenly distributed, relatively heavy, at least 
35 inches, and that the mean annual temperature is below 35 
degrees. Hence it follows that the growing season is short. In 
fact at least eight months of the year have average temperatures 
below freezing. 

As stated above this type is confined to the higher peaks so that 
the topography is rough and steep and the soil shallow. Like 
its eastern relative, the red spruce, Engelmann spruce can cling 
to mountain sides where the actual mineral soil is not deeper than 
a few inches. 

Normally the stands are nearly pure in this type but on the 
lower edges on the deeper soiled sites lodgepole pine, Colorado 
blue spruce, aspen and Douglas fir occur. In the southern part 
of its range Engelmann spruce is also occasionally associated with 
bristle cone and limber pine. It loses its capacity to dominate 
as it approaches the Canadian line. For example in northern 
Idaho pure stands are very rare and Umited in extent but mixtures 

99 



lOO ENGELMANN SPRUCE TYPE 

in which spruce is found with Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, western 
hirch, silver pine, hemlock and western red cedar are not uncom- 
mon. The only other species that has the same tolerance for 
the thin soil and high wind of the mountain summits as Engel- 
mann spruce is alpine fir but it is seldoin more than a subordinate 
associate. The merchantable contents vary from 3000 to 50,000 
feet with an average of 5000 feet per acre. 

As might be expected from the rigorous climate and thin soil 
growth is slow. The following figures show what 100 years will 
give under average conditions: 

Diameter 6.2 inches 

Height 60 feet 

Timber Values. — The cost of estimating is neither cheap nor 
very expensive. Five cents an acre should give a 10 per cent 
estimate. The factors that make for cheapness are uniformity 
of stand and size of timber while the rugged topography and rela- 
tive inaccessibility increase the cost. Inaccessibility has two 
phases wliich may both be of importance. In the first place the 
Engelmann spruce type is usually a long distance from roads and 
hence transportation is slow, difficult and costly. Secondly, 
the fact that the type is hard to reach reduces the probability of 
its having been surveyed. The Land Office has naturally con- 
centrated on the more accessible public land in the foothills 
which was in demand for tillage and grazing as well as for the 
timber. Furthermore, even when surveys have been made 
they are likely to be poor in quality. The contract method of 
surveying is not conducive to accurate work under difficulties 
because the surveyor's main object is to cover the largest possible 
area at the minimum cost. In addition the inspection of moun- 
tain survey work has been notoriously lax. The temptation to 
hurry over the inaccessible mountain peaks is very strong and 
only the most conscientious inspectors have resisted the impulse 
to be lenient with contract work in such localities. This failing 
of inspectors has been taken advantage of to the fullest by the 
contract surveyors. 

The following minimum diameter limits are used in esti- 
matmg timber within this type: 



TIMBER VALUES 



lOl 



Species 



Engelmann spruce 

Alpine fir 

Lodgepole pine 

Douglas fir 

Aspen 




Top diameter 



Inches 

5 
S 
4 
5 
•3 



Lodgepole pine is cut to a smaller size because its taper is less 
abrupt than the other species. Aspen may be cut to eight inches 
in diameter breast-high since it is the best firewood to be had in 
the southern Rocky Mountains and much sought for this purpose. 
It is the only species that should be estimated in cords. 

None of the species in this type are listed separately in the 
Census because they are of only minor commercial importance as 
they grow in the type. This does not mean that Douglas fir, 
for example, is not an important timber tree but only that the 
individuals which are found in this type do not reach the general 
market. When used at all they are employed for local purposes 
only. Hence there do not exist any figures which show the varia- 
tion in stumpage prices for the species found in this type in dif- 
ferent states and in various years. It is only possible to say in 
a general way that no stumpage in this type is worth more than 
$5 per M. The values applicable to individual tracts must be 
figured out on the basis of average sale values and logging and 
manufacturing costs. 

Generally speaking logging costs are high because of the 
inaccessibility and small size of the timber. Its density and 
uniformity of diameter and height are the only factors that help 
to decrease the cost. Inaccessibility means high cost of suppHes 
and labor and small timber is more expensive to buck, haul and 
saw, the main items of logging and manufacturing cost. The 
following figures are averages based on the methods commonly 
employed in this type and representative of conditions in 191 5: — 

PerM 

Felling and bucking $1 5° 

Skidding 2 . oo 

Sawing 4 • 00 

$7.50 



I02 ENGELMANN SPRUCE TYPE 

Portable mills are the rule and they are placed as near the tim- 
ber as possible. This is why the cost of getting the logs into the 
mill is low. But this is offset by the distance from market. A 
mill set up near the head of a timbered gulch may be close to its 
source of raw material but there is always a long haul to the rail- 
road or the ranches in the valley beneath. Hence the sale value 
at the mill was seldom more than $15 per M in 191 5 for the 
log run and commonly less. This left a possible margin for 
stumpage and profit of $8.50. This was the maximum. The 
average was nearer $5 per M, nor could this be materially in- 
creased by the sale of firewood. The tops and slabs will seldom 
pay for salvaging. Aspen is the only good fire wood in the type. 

The costs in man hours and horse hours will average as follows: 

Man hours Horse hours 

Felling and bucking 3 

Skidding to mill 3^ 45 

Milling 3I 

10 4^ 

No appreciable difference exists in the average sale value per 
M of the log run of the different species, because they are all 
used for the same purpose — rough construction. Of course there 
is variation in the durability and workability of the species for 
different purposes. For example, no one would use a spruce 
barn sill if a Douglas fir one could be obtained, but the difference 
in durability would amount to only a few dollars per M and per- 
haps be offset by the greater usefulness of spruce for other pur- 
poses. The fact remains that nearly all the species fouad in the 
Engelmann spruce type can be used interchangeably in the uses 
for which they are desired provided the sizes are right. 

Land Values. — Since tillage is out of the question on Engel- 
mann spruce land it has value only for the production of timber, 
occasionally for grazing, the protection of water suppUes, and for 
scenery. For the first purpose it is not an attractive investment 
for the private individual because the rigorous climate inhibits 
rapid growth and the yields are therefore low in spite of the 
density of the stands. This very density reduces its value for 
grazing because grass and herbs do not find sunlight enough for 



TITLES 



103 



their growth. Only sheep can find anything to eat in this type. 
But the density is a favorable factor again when it comes to con- 
serving moisture and spruce stands play an important role in this 
way. They are especially useful because they are commonly 
located at the heads of the valleys of the streams which furnish 
the supplies of irrigation water for the valley farms below. 
Another very important use from the national point of view is 
their scenic value. No one will deny that much of the beauty 
of the higher Rocky Mountain peaks is due to the dark green 
patches of Engelmann spruce clinging to the mountain sides. 
We are at last beginning to recognize this function as a useful 
one and insisting that such mountain slopes be protected from 
reckless denudation. In other words this intangible use has so 
great a value that the public will not- permit cutting in which no 
provision is made for a second crop and to enforce this mandate 
has created National Forests and Parks thru Congress. Hence, 
lands which will not pay dividends for the production of timber 
alone give handsome returns when the by-product uses, grazing, 
the prevention of erosion, the protection of water supplies, and 
recreation are considered. These by-product values the public, 
thru its agent, the Government, can afford to conserve. 

Titles. — No special difficulty need arise under this heading 
when the lands have been well surveyed. Unfortunately, for 
reasons explained above, this is sometimes not the case. Hence 
the location of much of this type is very vague and the chain of 
title is correspondingly confused. Unsurveyed lands cannot 
legally be transferred because the title remains in the Govern- 
ment until surveys are made and accepted by the General Land 
Ofiice. 



CHAPTER Xm 
SILVER PINE TYPE 

General Conditions. — This is a well developed but restricted 
t3^e confined to northwestern Montana, northern Idaho and 
northeastern Washington. Even within this area it is not found 
thruout but merely on the lower slopes of the mountains. It does 
not reach the upper slopes nor descend into the valleys but occurs 
abundantly only between elevations of 3000 and 6000 feet above 
sea level. This does not, of course, mean that the dominant 
species, silver pine (Pinus monticola,) is not found above or 
below these elevations. As a matter of fact it descends to sea 
level at the Straits of Fuca and attains an elevation of 10,000 feet 
in the Sierras. But the type is not of commercial importance 
except in the region referred to above. 

Climate seems to be the controlling factor in the distribution 
of this type. In general it is moderately cool and moist. To be 
specific, the total annual precipitation does not exceed 40 inches, 
the mean annual temperature is about 45° F., and only five 
months have average temperatures above 32° F. The type is 
probably restricted from extending to lower elevations because 
the precipitation is less in the semi-arid valleys while its upper 
limit seems to be determined by the length of the growing 
season. 

The topography of the lower slopes upon which the type is 
found is characteristically gentle. The type does not reach up 
on to the upper slopes. Hence the soil is deep and alluvial in 
character being derived mainly from the wash of the slopes above. 

While silver pine is the most abundant species and the most 
important commercially, red cedar (Thuya occidentalis) and hem- 
lock (Tsuga occidentalis) are also found in the t>^e. They 
always occupy a subordinate position, however. Both are tol- 
erant enough to grow well under the silver pine and mixed stands 

104 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 



105 




Fig. 10. Distribution of the Silver Pine Type 



Io6 SILVER PINE TYPE 

are two storied with the pine always on top. Stands may be 
divided by their composition into the following groups or sub- 
types : 

Stands per acre 

Pure silver pine 100,000 board feet maximum, 30,000 board feet average 

Pine and red cedar 200,000 board feet maximum, 50,000 board feet average 

Pine and hemlock 200,000 board feet maximum, 50,000 board feet average 

Growth conditions for silver pine on good sites may be sum- 
marized as follows: 



Age 


Diameter 


Height 


Yield in board feet 


«;o years 


Inches 

7 
10 

14 


5° 
100 


25,000 
40,000 
60,000 


7K vears 


100 years 



These figures are simply estimates since there are unfortunately 
no accurate measurements for the tree species in this type. 

Damage may be either negligible or very severe. Fires, for 
example, can ordinarily do little harm in the type because the 
stands are so dense as to keep the ground cover moist except in 
times of long continued dry weather. But when the woods do 
dry out a fire that starts on the ground quickly becomes a top fire 
and kills the entire stand. Hence, the damage is appalling in a 
serious drought. For example, the fires of 19 10 in northern 
Idaho killed outright thousands of acres of silver pine. 

While there are species of insects which attack the silver 
pine none of them have so far been reported in large numbers. 
Three fungi, Trametes pini, Polyporus schweinitzii and Fomes 
annosus have, however, been found to cause a large amount of 
heart rot. In the Cceur d'Alene region of Idaho investigation 
showed 7 per cent of the volume of the stand affected by these 
fungi. These studies by Weir and Hubert (U. S. Dept. of Agr., 
Bui. 799) covered 1400 trees on seven National Forest sale areas. 

Timber Values. — In this type as with eastern white pine the 
high value of the timber makes an intensive estimate necessary 
so that the cost is high in spite of the easy topography and uni- 
formity of composition. In fact, nothing less than a lo per cent 



TIMBER VALUES 107 

estimate is safe in such valuable timber. As a consequence the 
costs per acre range from 5 to 10 cents, with the latter as a 
safer figure if an accurate estimate is to be made. Nor can the 
relatively level topography, uniformity of the stands in compo- 
sition, size and density, and the accessibility of the timber offset 
this single cost factor. Tliis is in brief a problem similar in every 
way to the estimating of Lake States white pine with the single 
exception that silver pine is not so near the market and hence 
not quite so valuable. 

The only Census figures available, those for 1900, give low 
average stumpage values because at the time they were gathered 
the white pine of the " Central Empire " had not been put on the 
market in any large amount. The following values obtained at 
that time: 

Silver pine $1 . 50 per M 

Red cedar o. 77 per M 

Hemlock Not considered merchantable 

Larch Not considered merchantable 

At present, however, stumpage values are much higher. This 
is the natural'result of market development. Intrinsically silver 
pine is as valuable as eastern white pine and can be used for 
exactly the same purposes. Naturally, however, trade preju- 
dices had to be overcome before a wide market could be found. 
Furthermore, a relatively low value can only be secured as long 
as wood is marketed as rough ungraded lumber. High prices 
are only paid for carefully graded lumber which is especially 
selected for the particular purpose to which it is to be devoted. 
The careful grading of silver pine only dates from 1903 while the 
sash and door mills which now work up the rough lumber into 
semi-finished form, are no older. Since, however, silver pine is 
a wood w^hich can be used for pattern work, cabinet making, and 
fine finishing it is fast commanding the same sale value as eastern 
white pine. This means that the average value of the mill run 
at Minnesota transfer was $35 to $40 per M board feet in 19 10 
based on the following percentages of grades: 

Fine finishing lumber 10 per cent at $roo = $10.00 

Sash and door stock 20 per cent at 40 = 8.00 

Lower grades 70 per cent at 25 = 1 7 . 50 

$35-50 



io8 SILVER PINE TYPE 

While silver pine competes successfully with eastern white 
pine, the high stumpage prices which prevail in the Lake States 
do not hold good for Idaho and Montana. Nor is it reasonable 
to expect that they should when it is remembered that there is a 
long freight haul to the eastern markets. This is in fact the main 
item of cost and averages about $io per M. To this must be 
added the usual logging and milling charges so that it is seldom 
that there is a margin of more than $5 per M for profit and stump- 
age value. The costs of a typical operation in 1910 may be sum- 
marized as follows: 

Per M 

Felling and bucking $1 . 50 

Skidding 2 . 00 

Hauling, 5 miles 5°° 

Milling (sawing, planing, seasoning, etc.) 5 - 50 

Marketing i • 5° 

Freight 10.00 

Total costs $25.00 

Average sale value 35 • 00 

Margin for profit and stumpage 10 . 00 

Expressed in man hours and horse hours per M these costs 
would be: 

Man hours Horse hours 

Felling and bucking 2 

Skidding 3 4 

Hauling 9 15 

Milling 7 

21 19 

These figures may be safely used in estimating an average 
" chance " and presuppose the erection of a fair sized mill at some 
point on the railroad not too far from the timber. Then the 
logs are either brought in by the railroad, by tractor or by 
horses. The latter are the most expensive because they suffer 
severely from the dust. Especially during the summer this 
frequently gets to be six inches or more deep and only an iron 
lunged traction engine can keep hauling thru it day after day. 
At the mill the logs are washed and then put thru the saw, the 
plane and the dry kiln in order to get out of them the highest 
percentage of finishing lumber which will show a margin above the 



TIMBER VALUES 109 

transportation charge to the eastern markets. For the low grade 
lumber, slabs and edgings there is no market unless the mill 
itself can use them for fuel. Many plants pay as much as 50 
cents per M simply to dispose of them. Consequently the 
whole profit of the operation must be sought in the lumber which 
will repay shipment cost. 

The three main uses of red cedar are for shingles, poles and 
piling. For these purposes it commanded the following prices 
in 1915: 

Shingles: 

Extra stars, $1.43 per thousand shingles. 
Extra clears, $1.71 per thousand shingles. 
Approximately, $13 per M board feet f.o.b. the mill. 

Poles: 

Prices ranged from 55 cents for 20-foot, 4-inch top diame- 
ter pole to $33 for an 80-foot, 9-inch diameter pole or 
from $25 to $60 per M board feet. On account of the 
liigher proportion of small size poles $40 per M is a fair 
average price f.o.b. the shipping point. 

PiHng sells for slightly better prices than poles but must gen- 
erally be straighter and sounder. 

The cost of logging shingle material and making the shingles 
averaged as follows in 191 5: 

Per M board feet 

Cutting ". $2 . cx) 

Skidding i.oo 

Transportation to mill 2 . 00 

Milling 5 . cxD 

$10.00 

Poles and piles costs were as follows: 

Per M board feet 

Cutting and peeling $5 . 00 

Hauling 20 . 00 

Storage, loading, etc 1500 

$40.00 



no SILVER PINE TYPE 

Consequently the margins for profit and stumpage were $3 per 
M in the case of shingles and $5 for poles and piles. 

Western hemlock is similar to its eastern relative in properties, 
so that it can be used for the same purposes. There is not, 
however, as good a market for it. None of it is of sufficiently 
high quaUty to be shipped across the continent so that it is all 
used locally for dimension lumber and rough boarding. For 
these purposes it commanded an average price of $14 per M 
f.o.b. the mills in 1915. Since the logging, milling and other costs 
amounted to at least $10 there was only a margin of a few dollars 
for profit and stumpage. 

Land Values. — As explained above in discussing the typical 
soil of the type it is commonly a deep, well drained alluvdal loam. 
This is, of course, first rate agriculturally when the slopes are 
right for cultivation and in this connection it must be remem- 
bered that erosion is not the determining factor with reference 
to the slope but suitability for irrigation. Obviously steep 
slopes cannot be irrigated successfully without an expensive sys- 
tem of terraces so that only the level stretches have been sought 
for tillage. Still another factor has restricted the use of this type 
for agriculture and that is the cost of clearing the land. With 
the large number of stumps, frequently over 150 per acre, and 
the high cost of labor, land can seldom be cleared for tillage for 
less than $75 per acre. Such a large initial investment demands 
high returns such as can only be secured by a local market. As 
a consequence clearing has as a rule been confined to those level 
pieces of soil which can be cheaply irrigated and which lie close 
enough to a town to insure an eager demand for the hay, vege- 
tables and fruit raised. In other words, this is not a small' 
grain soil but one where the cost of clearing enforces intensive 
cultivation. For the same reason grazing is not extensively 
practised. The natural openings in the woods are few, mainly 
beaver meadows, and the crown cover is too dense to permit 
abundant grass or weed growth. Clearing the woods for grazing 
is, of course, out of the question. 

For growing trees this type has a value of at least $5 per acre. 
The value per acre for grazing is much less than this, $1 per acre, 



LAND TITLES III 

while the tillage value may be $ioo an acre if slope and market 
conditions are right. Generally speaking, however, the highest 
. use for at least 90 per cent of the type is the production of saw 
logs. 

Land Titles. — Northern Idaho and northwestern Montana are 
new regions but recently surveyed so that there are few cases in 
which title cannot be traced directly back to the Federal or 
State Government. The surveys themselves are for the most 
part well done because the high quality of the timber, the poten- 
tial agricultural value of the soil, and the presence of mineral 
deposits have all conspired to secure good surveys from the 
General Land Office. 



CHAPTER XIV 
SUGAR PINE TYPE 

General Conditions. — The sugar pine type is one of the illus- 
trations of how favorable the climate on our Pacific Coast is for 
the growth of trees. It lies immediately above the giant sequoia 
t>T)e on the western slopes of the Sierra and Coast ranges in 
southern Oregon and northern California and merges on the north 
into the luxuriant Douglas fir type, the heaviest yielding timber 
type in the world. In other words, the sugar pine type is that 
association of trees which has developed the capacity to thrive 
under conditions which are not moist and warm enough for the 
sequoias and are too warm for the best growth of Douglas fir. 

Commercially the type is of importance from Douglas County, 
Oregon, to Kern County, California, along the Sierra Range, a 
distance of 500 miles. In the Coast Range the north and south 
extent is less, 200 miles from Jackson County in Oregon to Glenn 
County, California. In an east and west direction the type 
ranges from 50 miles to 100 miles in width with an average of 
60 miles. There is, consequently, roughly 40,000 square miles 
included within the type. Much of this area is, however, sparsely 
timbered. Three-fourths of the total stand is concentrated in 
the mountainous portions of Siskiyou, Trinity and Shasta Coun- 
ties, California. 

Altitudinally the type ranges from 3000 to 9000 feet above sea 
level but in any particular locahty there is seldom a variation of 
more than 3000 feet. In other words, where the type descends 
within 3000 feet of the sea as in the northern Sierras it does not 
ascend beyond 6000 feet while in the southern Sierras the range 
is from 6000 to 9000 feet. 

The climate of the type has certain marked <:haracteristics 
which differentiate it from that of its neighbors. As stated above 
the growing season is shorter and the available moisture less than 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 



"3 




Fin. II. Distribution of the Sugar Pine Type 



114 SUGAR PINE TYPE 

in the sequoia type while the Douglas fir type on the north has a 
shorter growing season but much more precipitation. To be 
specific, sugar pine and its associates thrive best with an annual 
precipitation of at least 40 inches altho they can endure a mini- 
mum of 20 inches. Likewise, the largest trees, 10 feet in diameter 
and 200 feet in height and scaling over 25,000 feet, are only found 
where the growing season is at least seven months long. Like 
the rest of California the heat of summer in this type is unrelieved 
by showers. Fully four-fifths of the precipitation falls during 
the early spring, late fall and winter. 

As was seen in discussing the location and extent of the type 
it is essentially a mountain form of vegetation. The valleys are 
too hot and dry to allow tree growth. At the other extreme 
sugar pine does not reach the summits of the Sierras, at least as 
a commercial tree, because of the cold. The type may, therefore, 
be characterized as a middle slope type. From this it naturally 
follows that the soil is of medium depth because great accumula- 
tions of alluvial soil are not found on mountain slopes but still 
the grades are gradual enough so that the bed rock is covered in 
most places with a moderate layer of soil. As with other forms 
of tree growth the chemical composition of the soil has little 
effect upon the growth of sugar pine and its associates. The 
physical characters of the soil are the controlling factors, reason- 
able depth, good drainage and good capillarity. 

By composition the type may be divided into two subtypes or 
cover types, the sugar pine-yellow pine subtype and the sugar 
pine-fir subtype. The former is the more abundant in the 
southern part of the type's range since it is an association of trees 
which are well suited to the hot, dry summers of the middle and 
southern Sierras. The important species in order of their abund- 
ance are as follows: 

Per cent by volume 

Sugar pine 25 

Western yellow pine 20 ' 

White fir 15 

Douglas fir 15 

Incense cedar 10 

JciTrey pine ^ 10 

Sequoias 5 

100 



GENERAL CONDITIONS II5 

Stands in this subtype range from 60,000 board feet per acre on 
the moister sites within its range to 2000 board feet on the drier 
sites with an average of 20,000 board feet. 

The sugar pine-fir subtype, on the other hand, is character- 
istic of the northern part of the type's range and is found where 
the cHmate is moist and cool enough for Douglas fir. The 
average stand per acre is 30,000 board feet with a range from 
150,000 board fee't to 5000 board feet. The composition by vol- 
ume is as follows: 

Per cent 

Sugar pine 30 

Douglas fir 40 

White fir 30 

This subtype occupies a much smaller area than the sugar pine- 
yellow pine subtype. 

Growth within the type is summarized in the following table: 



25 years 

50 years 

75 years 

100 years 





Diameter 


Height in feet 


1 

Sugar 
pine 


Yellow 
pine 


3 

Incense 
cedar 


I 


2 


3 


Inches 
I 

5 

10 
18 


Inches 

4 
8 

14 
20 


Inches 

I 

5 
8 

14 


10 

35 
60 

92 


15 
45 
65 
94 


5 
20 

35 
65 



Yield per acre 
all species 



board feet 

400 

1600 

4000 

7300 



These figures are low because they have come from the measure- 
ment of virgin timber. Stands under management can be 
expected to grow much more rapidly because the better species 
could be aided to dominate the poorer individuals at an early age 
and thus shorten materially the struggle for supremacy. The 
yield, particularly, can be much increased. This will come, 
however, by making the stands more dense so that more trees 
will grow per acre. Virgin stands have been greatly decimated 
by fires, insects and fungi but there is no reason why reasonable 
care may not prevent the greater part of these losses. 

Fire is, as always, the main source of damage in this type. On 
account of the openness of the stand fires do not, however, get 
off the ground and burn the tops except in rare cases where a long 



Il6 SUGAR PINE TYPE 

continued drought is followed by very high wind. As a conse- 
quence only the small trees are killed outright but the larger 
trees are injured at the butt. This is particularly the case on a 
hillside where leaves, cones and branches collect on the upper side 
of the tree and form an accumulation of inflammable material 
that will burn long enough and hard enough to make deep scars. 
Such damage is not so serious in itself as in its indirect effect in 
weakening the trees so that they are more susceptible to insect 
and fungus injury. Similar results follow breakage by light- 
ning, wind, and snow. In such damaged trees bark beetles of 
the genera Dendroctonus and Buprestidie reproduce in numbers 
great enough to attack live timber successfully. Losses of 5 
to 10 per cent of the total stand are not uncommon in this way. 

While several species of fungi attack the weakened trees in 
this type no serious damage to sound, living timber has been yet 
reported. In fact, sugar pine when protected from fire seems 
unusually resistant to diseases. 

Timber Values. — On the whole the advantages offset the dis- 
advantages in estimating in the sugar pine type. The stands are 
open with comparatively little underbrush. This means few 
trees per acre with few shrubs and vines to impede the estimator's 
progress. Then, too, the trees are large size and a few big trees 
are easier to estimate than the many small trees which it would 
take to make up the same volume. Another aid is the high pro- 
portion of the type which has been surveyed so that tracts may 
be readily located on the ground. These factors make it pos- 
sible to get fairly good results from a 10 per cent estimate where 
areas of more than 100 acres are to be valued. Hence the cost 
need seldom exceed 10 cents per acre in spite of the inaccessi- 
bility of some of the mountain tracts and the fact that the type 
is usually a mixture of several species. 

Separate stumpage prices for the different species in the type 
were unheard of two decades ago. Private holdings of a size 
great enough to be lumbered economically were secured by 
grouping timber and stone claims which were bought at a fiat 
rate of $2.50 per acre from the Government or approximately 
15 cents per M board feet. From this minimum there has been 



TIMBER VALUES 



117 



a steady increase until in 1900 accessible sugar pine was worth 
$1 per M; in 191 5 the following prices prevailed in private sales: 



Maximum 



Average 



Minimum 



Sugar pine. . . 
Yellow pine. . 
Douglas fir. . . 

White fir 

Incense cedar. 



.00 
•SO 



lt>2.so 
2 .00 
1 .00 

0.7s 
0.50 



l>i.So 
1 .00 



On the National Forests the highest price which has been paid 
for sugar pine is $3.50 per M feet (191 6). 

The uses to which sugar pine lumber is put depend upon the 
distance from the place of manufacture. In CaHfornia the 
important industries depending upon this species in whole or 
part are the box makers, and the manufacturers of sashes, doors, 
blinds, and general millwork. In the east only the higher grades 
appear because they alone can stand the freight rate of $8 to $15 
per M required to transport lumber to the Mississippi valley and 
Atlantic seaboard. Hence, east of the Mississippi sugar pine 
is only in demand for the high grade uses which the native white 
pine cannot supply more cheaply. It is therefore seldom used 
for boxes and packing but is generally found in the planing mills 
and manufacturing establishments that need wide and clear stock. 
For such purposes it is technically qualified to supplant eastern 
white pine which has been the standard for two centuries both 
here and abroad. 

In general the wood of sugar pine may be briefly described as 
moderately hard, heavy, strong and stiff but straight grained 
and smooth textured. It shrinks, swells and warps very little on 
exposure to weather but is only fairly durable in contact with the 
ground. Altho resinous it wiU not impart undesirable odors or 
jflavors to articles packed in it. 

Its sale value at the mill depends upon the quality. Five 
main use classes are distinguished: thick finish, siding, factory 
plank or shop common graded for door cuttings, common lumber, 
and thick common lumber (tank stock and step planks) . These 



Ii8 SUGAR PINE TYPE 

are commonly further subdivided into Nos. i, 2 and 3 clear, 
select Nos. i, 2 and 3 shop, Nos. i, 2, 3, common, and box. The 
percentages of the various grades in the mill run vary greatly 
with the stands. In general the larger trees are found in the 
southern part of the type's range while those on the northern 
limit yield less wide clear lumber. However, the following figures 
give a notion of average conditions: 

Grade Average value 

Clear and select ..... 20 per cent at $40 per M = $8 . 00 

Shop 30 per cent at 25 per M = 7 . 50 

Common 30 per cent at 15 per M = 4 . 50 

Box 20 per cent at 12 per M = 2 . 40 

100 per cent $22.40 average mill run value. 

These prices are for 191 2. Since then there has been an increase 
of about 100 per cent. 

Western yellow pine may be briefly described as a poor quality 
of sugar pine. It has practically the same properties and hence 
uses but does not yield so much high grade lumber because of the 
larger amount of pitch. This is not, however, a drawback when 
durability is desired and for rough construction lumber for use 
outdoors unpainted or in contact with the ground yellow pine is 
better than sugar pine. Nor for such purposes is its weight a 
drawback. It is a third heavier than sugar pine. The value of 
the average mill run may be computed as follows based on 191 2 
figures : 

Clear and select 15 per cent at $35 = 

Shop 25 per cent at 20 = 

Common 30 per cent at 15 = 

Box 30 per cent at 12 = 

100 per cent 

Detailed figures by grades cannot be given for the average 
sale value of Douglas fir, white fir and incense cedar but they 
are lower than those of sugar and yellow pine because they 
supply lower uses. Douglas fir while preeminent for rough con- 
struction purposes is not soft enough to make good finishing and 
pattern makers' lumber. White fir does not season well, decays 
rapidly, is weak and not of large size so that the greater part of 



$5 


25 


5 


00 


4 


50 


3 


60 


$18 


35 



TIMBER VALUES I19 

it is used for boxmaking. Incense cedar finds its widest use as 
shingles alLho it is occasionally employed for interior finish. 
The average mill prices at present common are: 

Per M 

Douglas fir $40.00 

White fir 25.00 

Incense cedar 30.00 

The main difference between the logging methods used in this 
type and those so far considered is that steam donkey engines are 
commonly used in yarding. The large size of the timber, the 
density of the stands and the comparative evenness of the topog- 
raphy make this method much more economical than skidding 
with horses. A yarding crew consists of a dozen men and 
handles 25 to 40M per day. The donkey engines are placed 
alongside the logging railroads whenever possible so that the 
logs may be loaded on to the cars by steam after being yarded. 
Where the topography does not permit this a dry log chute may 
be used to get the logs from the yarding engine to the railroad. 
The average costs of a typical operation were as follows in 191 5: 

PerM 

Felling and bucking '. . . . $0 . 65 

Yarding i . 80 

Chuting (54 per cent of cut) o. 50 

Loading 0.25 

Railroad haul i • 50 

Supervision o . 25 

$5-3° 

Large mills capable of turning out 250,000 feet in 24 hours are 
becoming more common because they turn out better lumber at 
less cost. Average figures for such a mill were as follows: 

PerM 

Unloading logs in mill pond $0 . 07 

Milling 1.50 

Maintenance o. 50 

Yard charges o. 73 

PlaningJ(part only) and loading 0.90 

$3-70 

Adding the logging and milling costs gives a total cost of $9 per 
M. Hence there is a possible margin for stumpage and profit 



I20 SUGAR PINE TYPE 

of $13 for sugar pine, $9 for yellow pine and Douglas fir, $5 for 
incense cedar, and $3 for white fir. Nor can these figures be 
increased ordinarily by the sale of tops or slabs for firewood 
because the local demand is small. 

In man hours the costs of an average operation would be as 
follows: 

Man hours per M 

Felling and bucking 2 

To mill 7 

Milling 7 

16 

In addition to these labor costs there would be considerable 
charges for interest and depreciation in the case of niilUng and 
getting the logs to the mill. 

Land Valuation. — The use of sugar pine land for farming is 
generally impracticable on any large scale because the slopes 
make irrigation expensive. In addition the shallowness of the 
soil and frequent outcrops of rock are obstacles to cheap cultiva- 
tion. As a consequence there is no sale for land for this purpose 
with the exception of an occasional mountain meadow. 

For grazing there is more demand for this type. It will sup- 
port from one to two head of cattle or 10 sheep during the sum- 
mer months on 40 acres and a fair renta' per acre is 10 cents. 
Hence the capital -value may safely be taken as $1.25 per acre 
using an 8 per cent interest rate. 

The main reason why land in this type cannot be given a high 
value per acre for the production of lumber is that growth is 
slow during the early stages. This is, however, better than the 
returns from grazing and of more importance to the large owner 
than the possible use of a small fraction of his land for tillage 
purposes. Therefore it would seem that the highest use to which 
most of the type can be put is the growing of timber supplemented 
by grazing on lands where the reproduction will not be injured 
by the browsing of cattle or sheep. Furthermore these uses are 
in many cases supplemented by the values accruing from water- 
shed protection whether the water so conserved is used for irriga- 
tion or power purposes. 



L.\ND TITLES 121 

Land Titles. — This subject may be quickly disposed of because 
the title conditions obtain here which have been already dis- 
cussed in connection with the other tree types occurring in the 
western public land survey states. 



CHAPTER XV 

REDWOOD TYPE 

General Conditions. — The redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, 
must be distinguished from its near relative, the big tree, Sequoia 
Washingtonia, because they are very different in many respects. 
They are unHke botanically, the wood has not quite the same 
commercial value, and their ranges are not identical. The red- 
wood is confined to a belt about lo miles wide and within 30 
miles of the Pacific Ocean on the west side of the Coast Range in 
northern California and southern Oregon. Its distribution is 
well defined in the following quotation from Forest Service 
Bulletin No. 38: 

The Redwood is "popularly thought to occupy a strip of 
country 10 to 30 miles wide, from the Oregon line to the 
Bay of Monterey, but these boundaries do not cover its 
actual distribution. Two thousand acres of Redwood, 
in two separate groups, are growing in Oregon along the 
Chetco River. South of the Chetco a continuous Red- 
wood belt begins. By way of the river valleys and low- 
lands it increases its width from 10 miles, at Del Norte 
County, to 18 or 20 miles, and keeps on unbroken to 
southern Humboldt County. Here, for about a township, 
it thins out, but becomes dense again six miles north of 
the Mendocino line, and after entering that county 
widens to 35 miles, its greatest width. The Redwood 
belt ends in Mendocino County, but isolated forests of the 
species are growing in sheltered spots as far south as Sal- 
mon Creek Canyon, in the Santa Lucia Mountains, Mon- 
terey County, 12 miles south of Punta Gorda, and 500 
miles from the northern limit of the tree along the Chetco 
River. 



GENERAL CONDTTIONS 



123 




i;0O___30O 400 500 60O mllg 



Fig. 12. Distribution of the Redwood and Sequoia Types 



124 



REDWOOD TYPE 



The climate is the controlling factor in the redwood's distri- 
bution. It is only found where there is at least 30 inches of rain- 
fall during the fall and winter and constant sea fogs during the 
summer. This minimum precipitation is characteristic of the 
southern part of its range where the trees do not reach as large 
size as they do farther north. In fact the greater the rainfall the 
better the trees, always provided the growing season is long. 
This latter factor of temperature prevents the spread of the 
species north. A mean annual temperature of 50 degrees or 
60 degrees is necessary with not less than six months free from 
frost. In other words, the cUmate is Hke that of the southeast 
at Charleston, S. C, for example, in the absolute amount of 
precipitation, and the range and duration of temperature, but 
there are two marked differences. The great evaporation of the 
southeast is checked by the summer fogs while there are no high 
winds such as sweep our eastern coast in the fall and winter. 
Hence the redwood grows under almost ideal conditions. There 
is a long growing season to give large diameter and height growth 
and enough moisture to not only further these but also permit of 
a fair degree of density. 

These favorable climatic factors are still further enhanced by 
favorable soil conditions. Situated on the lower slopes of the 
coast ranges there is sufficient depth of soil together with the 
requisite drainage to prevent sourness. The most desirable soil 
conditions are found on the flats along the streams. Here the 
soil is fertile, deep and well watered and the redwood reaches a 
diameter of 20 feet and the magnificent total height of 350 feet, 
the tallest of all American tree species. With it are associated 
hemlock and Sitka spruce but the redwood usually makes up at 
least half of the total number of trees. The virgin stands per 
acre in this flat subtype range from 150M board feet in the 
northern part of its range to about a third of that in the south. 

The other subtype recognized by Fisher, the slope subtype, is 
located on the relatively drier and more shallow slopes. With 
less favorable conditions for redwood the competition from other 
species is keener, such a large size is not attained and growth is 
less rapid. The following table summarizing the principal facts 



STUMPAGE VALUES 



125 



in regard to each subtype also offers a basis for comparing the 
two: 



Composition by number 


Flat 


Slope 


Redwood 


Per cent 
80 
15 
5 


Per cent 
60 


Hemlock 


20 


Spruce 


S 
10 


White fir 


Tanbark oak 


5 








100 


100 



Feet Feet 

Maximum diameter 20 10 

Maximum height 350 225 

Growth in 30 years: 

Diameter 16 9 

Height 80 55 

Timber Values. — There are only two reasons why the esti- 
mating of redwood need cost more than a very moderate sum per 
acre. The mere size of the trees is the least important of these 
two but large trees are somewhat harder to estimate rapidly than 
medium sized ones. Redwood may, however, occur on slopes 
which are difficult to negotiate. But against these two unfavor- 
able factors can be set the favoring ones of accessibihty, uniform- 
ity of composition, and low value of the standing trees per M. 
Hence it is seldom necessary to estimate more than 10 per cent 
of the total stand and the cost per acre should not exceed five 
cents for tracts of any size. 

As stated above stumpage values are low. The prime reason 
for this is the freight charge to the eastern markets but it must 
be remembered that redwood in spite of its large size is a soft, 
weak wood mainly used for rough construction purposes. This 
is the way in which its great durabihty in contact with the 
ground and when exposed to the weather can be best taken ad- 
vantage of. In other words it is an excellent wood for shingles, 
rough boards, boxes, and railroad ties where the trafi&c is not 
heavy. The average sale value in 191 7 at the mill as stated in 
Forest Service Bulletin No. 768 was $21 per M. This was 



126 REDWOOD TYPE 

much above the pre-war value because for the five years between 
1 916 and 1909 inclusive the average was $14.35 per M. This lat- 
ter figure is naturally a safer one to use in determining the margin 
available for stumpage than the abnormal value of 191 7. 

Logging and milling costs present no unusual features except 
that the large size of the timber makes steam logging the most 
economical. But this merely tends to reduce costs if handled 
on a large enough scale. It is, of course, no business for a small 
operator. The holdings must be large, the logs skidded by steam, 
a railroad built to haul the logs, and heavy sawmill machinery 
employed. In 1900 Fisher found that costs were as follows: 

Per M 

Logging $300 to $5.50 

Milling 3.00 to 3.50 

Loading 0.25 to 0.50 

Freight to local towns in California 2 . 50 to 4 . 00 

OfiSce costs, etc 2 . 00 

$10.75 

Converted to labor hours per M these costs would be as follows: 

Man hours 

plus 

fixed^charges 

Logging 7 

Milling 7 

14 

With a sale value of $11 to $13 per M for rough lumber and $18 
to $25 for clear boards th^re was naturally httle margin for stump- 
age. Even today redwood is worth less than $5 per M standing. 
Land Values. — • Fisher estimates that but two per cent of the 
redwood type may be classified as " flat " so that the tillage pos- 
sibilities are not great. At best it will only pay to faAn compar- 
atively small areas. There is no chance for the development of 
agricultural communities. Grazing is only feasible on the drier 
ridges where the stands of redwood and its associated tree species 
are open enough to permit grass and weed growth. Unquestion- 
ably the highest use to which most of this type can be put is for 
the production of timber. Except on the dry ridges reproduc- 
tion is vigorous enough and growth sufficiently rapid to justify the 



TITLES 127 

land being held for a second crop. This is one of the few types 
in the United States which can average 1000 board feet per acre 
per annum under management. This means that the soil is 
worth at least $10 per acre for timber production. With fire 
eliminated — and this is not a difficult task in the humid climate 
of the type — there is very Httle risk since insect and fungus 
enemies are not abundant. 

Titles. — With only a short chain of title possible resting upon 
the original grant from the Federal Government and each square 
mile surveyed there can be little difficulty in identifying, describ- 
ing or passing title to redwood land. The only precaution that 
needs to be observed is to make sure that no fraud was practised 
in obtaining title from the United States. The methods used in 
the early days to secure timber lands under the homestead and 
timber and stone laws were not always exactly regular. 



CHAPTER XVI 
BIG TREES — SEQUOIAS 

What has been said about the redwood applies with certain 
exceptions to the big trees. The wood has the same general uses, 
logging methods are identical, and costs, sale values, and stump- 
age prices are similar. The major differences are in distribution, 
and vigor of growth and reproduction. The groves of big trees 
are the remnants of much larger forests which have been restricted 
in area by climatic changes and more vigorous competitors. 
Whether they will be able to increase in area with real protection 
from fire, insects and fungi is a question. At present the big 
tree is confined to about 15 localities on the lower western slopes 
of the Sierra Mountains in California aggregating not more than 
10,000 acres. In altitude the species is found from 5000 to 8000 
feet above sea level and reaches its best development on cool, 
moist, sandy or rocky soils in full enjoyment of the sunlight. 
Unlike its cousin, the redwood, the stands are rarely more than 
50 per cent big tree by number. Sugar pine, white fir and Doug- 
las fir are its commonest associates. 

Little difference exists in the quality of the wood from the 
two kinds of sequoia. Both have the same uses. Even their 
size does not vary enough to affect their market value. The red- 
wood reaches a greater height while the maximum diameter of the 
big tree is 30 feet as against 20 feet for the redwood. 

As an investment for timber production the big tree does not 
offer the advantages that redwood stands do. The latter 
occupies a well defined and extensive area in which the climatic 
conditions are favorable for vigorous reproduction and rapid 
growth. The big tree, on the other hand, seems to be merely 
holding its own in certain restricted localities. It is not even 
certain that its competitors would not give higher returns on the 
same sites. 

128 



CHAPTER XVII 
DOUGLAS FIR 

General Conditions. — Altho the Douglas or red fir is one of our 
most widely distributed timber trees and is found throughout 
the Rocky Mountain and Cascade ranges from Northwestern 
Texas to British Columbia it is not the dominant species over 
wide areas except in the extreme northwestern part of the 
United States. There it occurs in nearly pure stands with high 
yields. In California the type occupies the middle slopes of the 
west side of the Cascades between the sequoia and sugar pine 
types. All of western Oregon is covered with it from the summit 
of the Cascades to the Pacific Ocean except the valley of the 
Willamette River, a sheltered basin lacking in precipitation. 
Northward in Washington there are no such dry valleys and the 
type is the dominant vegetation west of the Cascades. 

Altitudinally the type may occur anywhere between o and 
6000 feet above sea level but in accordance with the laws of 
climate is only abundant at sea level in Washington. South- 
ward in Oregon and CaHfornia it is commonly forced to keep to 
the mountain slopes by tree species like the sequoia which are 
better adapted to the warmer, drier cUmate and even on these 
slopes it prefers the cooler north slopes. 

With a north and south extent of 500 miles and an east and 
west width of 150 miles there is naturally considerable variation 
within the type in climate. The north and south extent is less 
important, however, than the distance from the Pacific Ocean. 
The moisture laden winds come from there and ascend the 
steep slopes of the Cascade Range. At the point where they are 
cooled down to the temperature at which they give off their 
moisture freely the Douglas fir type is most vigorous. While 
it can exist vnih an average annual precipitation of 50 inches it 
does better where the total annual rainfall is 50 to 100 per cent 

129 



I30 



DOUGLAS FIR 



greater. In fact within its boundaries occurs the heaviest 
measured rainfall in the United States, loo inches in 12 months. 

The growing season is relatively long as compared with locali- 
ties of the same latitude in the eastern part of the United States. 
This is because the Pacific Coast climate is much modified by the 
warm moist winds from the ocean. Hence there are no months 
at Seattle when the mean temperature is below freezing. Taking 
the type as a whole in the United States from northern CaUfornia 
to the Canadian line the growing season is approximately six 
months long. Temperatures too cold for tree growth are rare 
from April thru September. 

As explained above this type is most abundant on the middle 
slopes of the western side of the Cascade Range. This includes 
the headwaters of the Illinois and Rogue rivers, the entire course 
of the Umpdua, and the upper reaches of the Willamette and its 
tributaries in Oregon. Between the States of Oregon and 
Washington the Columbia River cuts thru the Cascade Range at 
right angles but has very little effect on the distribution of the 
type. Its northern tributary, the Cowlitz River, however, is 
entirely within the type and the same applies to the other princi- 
pal rivers of western Washington, the Chehalis, the Queniult, 
the Skagit, and the Nooksak. All of these are characterized by 
short, steep courses, with an abundance of water. 

As might be inferred from the steep to moderate slopes which 
the type occupies the soil is fairly deep but yet not free from 
outcrops and loose rocks. In origin it is partly glacial and in 
Oregon and California residual or volcanic. 

While Douglas fir is the dominant species in the t}qDe it has 
many associates on the sites which it does not possess the special 
ability to preempt. For example, in the river bottoms in the 
interior and along the seashore red cedar, Sitka spruce and 
Lawson cypress share the ground with it. This is called the fir 
cedar subtype. On the drier lower slopes above the shore line 
and river bottom the fir is preeminent. Here it finds the deep, 
loose soil, the long growing season and abundant rainfaJl which 
it requires to reach its maximum development. Higher up, that 
is, extending from 3000 to 4000 feet above sea level to 6000 or 



TIMBER VALUATION 131 

7000, the Douglas fir is mixed with western hemlock and several 
species of balsam. All the tree subtypes referred to above occur 
in the western slope of the Cascade Range. Its eastern side being 
sheltered from the moist Pacific winds has much less precipitation. 
As a consequence the stands are more open and the Douglas fir 
shares preeminence with western larch, a species which makes 
only moderate demands upon soil moisture. A comparative 
stand table for these different subtypes under virgin conditions 
is given below: 

M 

Fir-cedar 60 

Pure fir 100 

Fir-hemlock 75 

Fir-larch 30 

Accurate growth data for all the species found in the type are 
not available, but good figures do exist for Douglas fir and it 
seemed wise to make estimates for the other species in order to 
give at least a relative notion of their growth. 



Species 



Douglas fir 

Red cedar 

Lawson cypress. . 

Sitka spruce 

Western hemlock. 

Grand fir 

Amabilis fir 

Western larch 



Diameter 


Height 




Yield 


50 yrs. 


100 yrs. 


so yrs. 


100 yrs. 


50 yrs. 


100 yrs 


is" 


24" 


102° 


i,S4° 




28M 


79M 


30" 
50" 


slowe 


r growing 


than 


Dc 


)uglas 


fir 


30" 
20" 














10" 














20" 














25" 















Timber Valuation. — The following quotation from Comp- 
ton's " Organization of the Timber Industry " sets forth the early 
conditions in regard to stumpage prices of Douglas fir. 

'" During the eighties the prevailing price of stumpage in 
Washington was not over 15 cents per M feet. Between 1898 
and 1908 prices trebled. A stand of eight million feet (estimated) 
was bought in 1891 for $800 or for 10 cents per M feet. In 1909 
the same tract was sold for $18,500 or for $2.31 per M feet. As 
late as 1903 a stand of 472 million feet (estimated) was purchased 



132 DOUGLAS FIR 

at 12.9 cents per M. In 1907, 59 cents per M was offered for the 
entire tract. A great deal of the timberland of the Pacific North- 
west has been alienated from the public domain under the general 
land laws. Some of the timber in select areas has thus been sold 
by the United States at less than four cents per M feet. Similar 
conditions have largely prevailed in Oregon which now has a 
greater supply of merchantable timber than has any other state. 
Because of the extremely low original prices, a very large relative 
increase in stumpage prices in the Pacific Northwest does not 
necessarily imply a great absolute rise." 

No figures for an extended period exist for the subordinate 
species in the type such as hemlock, balsam, cedar, etc., for the 
reason that they have only recently become merchantable at all. 
They are now, however, being cut more and more and command 
an average stumpage value of not more than $1.50 per M in this 
type. 

As far as use value is concerned Douglas fir easily leads all its 
associated species. In fact it ranks second in the lumber cut of 
the United States and the amount produced annually is only 
exceeded by the combination of three southeastern species usu- 
ally grouped together under the name of yellow pine. This fact 
alone is enough to show that it is strong, easily worked wood in 
demand for general construction purposes, for a wood must 
answer these requirements to stand high in the annual lumber cut. 
In comparison with white pine it is harder but stronger, while 
the better grades of yellow pine exceed it slightly in strength and 
durability. It is consequently eagerly sought for such a wide 
variety of uses as railroad bridges, ties, boat building, flooring 
and interior finish. In 19 10 the main uses to which the lumber 
was put were as follows: 

Per cent 

Mill work 87 

Tanks and silos 4 

Car construction 4 

Boats 2 

Pumps and wood pipe i 

Other uses 2 

100 



TIMBER VALUATION 133 

On Nov. 24, 1920, the following prices prevailed f.o.b. the mills 
for the principal grades of Douglas fir: 

Flooring (vertical) $40 per M 

Finish 35 " 

Drop siding 35 " 

Boards and shiplap No. i 19 " 

Dimension No. i S & E 16 " 

The average mill run price in 1912 was $11.58. 

Lawson cypress is important locally but does not reach the 
general eastern market at least under its own name. In the first 
place there is not enough of it to make it an important factor in 
the lumber market and secondly it is used for purposes which do 
not demand high priced lumber. Hence, while it is a common 
wood in Oregon for fence posts, railway ties and poles, it is only 
occasionally cut into lumber and then only for local consumption. 
Its sale value per M is accordingly low. At the mills it does not 
exceed $10 per M for the mill run. 

Red cedar is of more than local importance but not as lumber. 
It is in the form of shingles that it has invaded the eastern market. 
This western species is not to be confused with the eastern red 
cedar which belongs to another genus. The latter finds its 
highest use as pencil wood and usually grows too small for high 
grade shingles. The western red cedar on the other hand is 
a magnificent tree four to six feet in diameter and yields the 
widest shingles on the general market. But even for this pur- 
pose the mill run value will not exceed $15 per M. 

Sitka spruce is another species which has not been sold in the 
general markets, at least before the Great War. Recently, how- 
ever, it has been in great demand as airplane stock where its 
lightness and strength meet a special need and help to relieve the 
strain on the producers of eastern spruce. The two woods are 
essentially the same in structure and properties so that it is safe 
to predict a mdening market for Sitka spruce when it can be sup- 
phed to the manufacturers of musical instruments, pulp manu- 
facturers, etc. At present, however, the mill run cannot be sold 
for more than $15 per M. 

Western hemlock is in an even worse pHght. It has no special 



134 



DOUGLAS FIR 



high value uses but merely makes good rough construction lum- 
ber. For a long time, therefore, it was not cut at all and even 
now is only shipped east when cut in special sizes of extra length 
or width. Hence, the mill run never averages better than $io 
per M. 

Balsam is another low grade species the bulk of which must be 
used locally for boxes, cheap finish and other purposes for which 
a soft, weak wood which is not durable may be used. Its mill 
run also a»verages about $io per M at the point of manufacture, 
and this is true in spite of the fact that large sizes may be obtained. 

Larch commands a better figure because it is fairly hard and 
much more durable. It can, therefore, be used for flooring, rail- 
way ties, and general construction work. Its only fault is that it 
is liable to split if cut into inch boards of over six inches in width. 
Consequently all the clear lumber goes into flooring which is 
always made in narrow widths. This brings up the average mill 
run value to about $12 f.o.b. the mill. 

Logging costs in the Douglas fir present certain marked dif- 
ferences from those in other types because the conditions to be 
met are unique. Felling and bucking are difficult on account of 
the large size of the timber. It is obvious that different methods 
must be used with a tree containing 8 to 16 foot logs and five 
feet in diameter at the top end of the first log than are employed 
for ordinary sized trees. In the first place a spring board is com- 
monly used to put the sawyers up above the root swelling. Then 
the fallers need so much time to saw thru the tree that they do 
none of the notching, but a head chopper takes over all this 
work. Even the bucking is often done by special buckers by 
contract or better yet the logs are hauled in to a steam saw in 
as long lengths as possible and hand work thus eliminated in 
this operation. But the situation has its relieving features. 
The cost of felling and bucking are low per M because of the 
large size of the trees. Where a single tree contains 5 to 10 M 
feet it can readily be seen that the cost of felling and bucking will 
be much less per M than for small trees. 

Ordinary skidding methods are likewise wholly inadequate. 
Donkey engines are the only successful method by which sufii- 



TIMBER VALUATION 135 

dent power may be developed to handle the immense logs. Oxen 
and horses have proved futile. But if properly applied, steam 
skidders give low costs per M when there is sufficient timber to 
justify the heavy initial investment. 

The large size of the timber has also dictated the methods 
employed to transport the logs from the skidding yards to the 
mills. There are plenty of drivable streams in the region for 
timber of ordinary size but they are too steep, too rocky, and too 
crooked to carry large logs. Hence railroads had to be built 
into the timber even tho it is all softwood and not hardwood. 
But railroads are the most economical method of log transport 
where there is enough timber to cover the heavy initial invest- 
ment. In fact logs in this type cost as little per M laid down in 
the mill pond as those from any type simply because there are 
heavy stands per acre and steam can economically replace hand 
labor. This is more especially the case where rafting on salt 
water can take the place of rail transport. This, of course, only 
applies to timber on tidewater but a large percentage of what 
has been so far cut has been thus advantageously situated. 

Milling charges do not differ much from those that prevail in 
other regions altho the saw, carriages and other equipment have 
to be unusually large. The high cost of labor seems to offset 
any advantage there is in the large logs. 

Average costs per M from the stump to the car in 191 5 may be 
summarized as follows: 

Felling and bucking $0 . 60 or one and one-half man hours. 

Yarding and loading 2 . 00 or three man hours plus fi.xed charges. 

Transport to mill: 

By raft i . 25 



^ ., , I or five man hours plus fixed charges. 

By railroad 2 . 00 J 

Milling 4 . 00 or four man hours plus fixed charges. 

Total cost $7 . 85 or $8 . 60 

Using an average logging cost of $7.25 per M there are the 
following margins possible for stumpage and profit with the 
species which occur in this type: 



136 DOUGLAS FIR 

Per M 

Douglas fir S5 00 

Cypress 3 °° 

Red cedar 5 00 

Sitka spruce 5 00 

Hemlock 3 00 

Balsam 3 00 

Larch 5 • 00 

Land Values. — Of the three possible uses of Douglas fir land 
exclusive of the timber and minerals, tillage, grazing and timber 
production, the first will undoubtedly give the highest returns 
where the conditions are favorable. But tillage requires gentle 
slopes, reasonable freedom from rock outcrops and loose stones, 
and a ready market, and this combination of characters is seldom 
met with in the type. The slopes are usually too steep, especially 
if irrigation is to be employed, the soil is frequently too shallow, 
and the local market will only absorb a limited amount of produce 
while the general market is across the continent and only acces- 
sible for high grade products. For example, northwestern apples 
have earned an enviable reputation but simply because it is only 
the very best grades that will stand the freight charges that must 
be paid to reach the general market. Hence, very little of this 
type has yet been cleared. The famous agricultural sections of 
the northwest the Palouse, the Willamette, etc., are treeless sec- 
tions which have been rendered fertile by irrigation. In other 
words it has been more profitable to irrigate arid regions than to 
clear off the timber in the sections where there is abundant mois- 
ture. Another factor which needs at least passing mention is 
that even in the humid parts of the northwest there is a defi- 
ciency of moisture during the summer; for example, at Olym- 
pia, Washington, only three inches of rainfall during June, July 
and August or merely 5 per cent of the total annual precipita- 
tion of 55 inches. This illustrates why irrigation is desirable for 
many crops even in places where there is a superabundance of 
moisture in the winter. Hence, the cost of irrigation must usu- 
ally be added to that of clearing in the Douglas fir type. Three 
factors, then, make tillage a doubtful proposition, the heavy cost 
of clearing, the steep slopes, and the cost of irrigation. Grazing 



TITLES 137 

is also little practiced within this type for the very good reason 
that the trees stand so close together that very little grass can 
grow underneath them. The only exceptions to this general rule 
are occasional localities where the fir-larch subtype is open enough 
to permit some grass growth but these are practically negligible. 

Hence it follows that taking the type as a whole the production 
of timber is the highest use of the soil. There is only one unfavor- 
able factor. That is the distance to market. But improvements 
in transportation and growing scarcity of timber in other regions 
are bound to lead to an increase in stumpage prices. In fact it 
seems safe to figure that these prices will be at least $10 per M 
within the next rotation of 100 years. With this assumption 
and using an interest rate of 3 per cent the value of the land 
within the type is $22 per acre. 

Titles. — Land titles present no special problems. In surveyed 
sections they are easy to trace since the land has been obtained 
from the Federal Government within a short period either thru 
the homestead or timber and stone claim laws or purchased out- 
right from the State or land grant railways. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
ALASKA 

Climate and Topography. — As a preliminary to a description 
of the timber distribution in Alaska an understanding of the 
cUmatic factors is desirable. In the first place it is necessary to 
correct the general impression that low temperatures preclude 
all tree growth. This probably arises from a failure to understand 
that Alaska is 1400 miles long. In other words, it would reach 
from Cape Cod to Key West if set down on the Atlantic Coast. 
Hence the southern third is outside the Arctic Circle. Sitka, the 
capital, for example, has an average annual temperature equal to 
that of Philadelphia. This is true even tho Sitka is in the same 
latitude as northern Labrador because of the warm winds which 
blow off the Pacific Ocean. These are also responsible for the 
heavy precipitation of southern Alaska where 80 inches per annum 
is not uncommon. The northern or continental part of Alaska 
has an entirely different cKmate, however. This part may be 
said to consist of a basin, the Yukon and Kuskokwim river val- 
leys with the Alaska Range on the south and the Endicott Range 
on the north. The former is particularly rugged, running up to 
15,000 feet above sea level in many places and attaining the mag- 
nificent altitude of over 20,000 feet in Mt. McKinley the highest 
peak in North America. This means that many of the mountains 
are too high to permit tree growth on them. 

The Endicott Range while not so lofty is, however, high 
enough to also have considerable areas above timber hne. In all, 
approximately one third of the territory is so far above sea level 
that tree growth is out of the question. Another third of the 
land area is also treeless but for another reason. This is the so 
called " tundra " upon which tree growth cannot exist because of 
the short growing season. To this category belong the slopes 
draining into the Arctic Ocean and Behring Sea. The glaciers 
and snowfields are also without tree growth. 

138 



THE COAST FORESTS 139 

There remains less than one third of the land area, 27 per cent 
to be exact. Of this 6 per cent is capable of producing large 
sized saw timber. It is confined to southwestern Alaska whose 
climate has already been described. The remainder of the timber 
producing area, 21 per cent of the whole territory, has, however, 
an entirely different climate. The conditions at Fairbanks in the 
Yukon Valley may be taken as typical of this region. The mean 
annual precipitation is 15 inches. The winters are long and cold 
while the summers tho short are warm. July, for example, has 
an average of 57° F. Furthermore, there is almost continual day- 
light during the vegetative season. Consequently the upper 
surface of the soil thaws out sufficiently to permit vegetative 
growth while the frozen layers beneath supply ample moisture by 
capillary attraction. There results, therefore, rapid growth in 
spite of the short season and scant rainfall. White spruce (Picea 
canadensis) and three cottonwoods (Populus balsamifera, tricho- 
carpa and tremuloides) and white birch (Betula alaskana) are the 
dominant species with black spruce (Picea nigra) and tamarack 
(Larix alaskensis) much less common. These trees reach their 
best development in the deep soiled river bottoms and are short 
and stunted on the hillsides. Diameters of more than 18 inches 
breast-high and total heights of over 50 feet are rare. The stands 
are relatively open so that the yields per acre are not large. In 
fact the wonder is that trees do so well rather than that they are 
not larger and denser. Scant rainfall and a long winter are only 
partially offset by the long summer days and abundant supply 
of ground moisture. 

The Coast Forests. — By contrast with the interior forests the 
coast timber seems magnificent. It is in fact a northern exten- 
sion of the luxuriant Douglas fir type of Washington and Oregon. 
The composition is, however, considerably altered by the lower 
temperatures. Douglas fir is no longer found but the dominant 
species are western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and Sitka 
spruce (Picea sitchensis). Western red cedar (Thuya plicata) 
and yellow cedar (Chamaecyparis Nootkatensis) occur sparingly 
in southwestern Alaska. Species of little commercial importance 
which are more or less abundant in this type are : 



140 ALASKA 

Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta). 
Black Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana). 
Alpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa). 
White spruce (Picea canadensis). 
Black spruce (Picea mariana). 
Balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera). 
Black Cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa). 
Birches (Betula). 
Willows (Salix). 

From the description given above it is evident that hemlock 
and spruce are the species which determine the stand per acre. 
Kellogg estimates that together they constitute 95 per cent of 
the total average volume per acre with the hemlock much more 
abundant and making up 75 per cent of this total. For an 
average stand per acre a midway location must be chosen. 
Around Cook Inlet the stands are distinctly less in volume than 
at the southern end of the territory where it touches British 
Columbia. This is because the trees do not attain such good 
diameter and height growth in the north. Diameters of over 
four feet and heights of more than 100 feet are not common 
north of Juneau. South of there, however, the stands often 
average better than 25,000 feet per acre. From these heavy 
stahds there is a gradual decrease northward in the diameters and 
heights until around Cook Inlet the timber averages two feet in 
diameter and 60 feet in height with stands averaging less than 
10,000 feet per acre. For the type as a whole 15,000 feet is a 
conservative figure. 

Except for a small amount of insect and fungus damage the 
type is remarkably free from disease. This is undoubtedly due 
to the absence of fire, a result of the heavy precipitation. The 
ground is covered with a thick mat of undergrowth and moss 
which is kept continually wet by the ocean fogs. Hence, the 
trees grow unchecked until they are overmature unless the soil 
is so thin that the wind overthrows them. Such damage is, 
however, slight except near the upper limit of tree growth where 
the mountain slopes are steep and the soil is shallow. 

Growth cannot be satisfactorily set forth on account of lack 
of data. There are only a few figures available for the best sites. 



INTERIOR FORESTS 141 

At the southwestern end of Alaska the following diameters were 
attained in 100 years' growth: 

Inches 

Sitka spruce i8 

Red cedar 18 

Farther north the growth would, of course, be slower because 
of the shorter growing season so that the average for the type 
would be comparable to growth conditions in the spruce type of 
the northeastern United States where the yield per acre in 100 
years is 15M board feet. 

Interior Forests. — The composition of the forests in the Yukon 
and Kuskokwim River valley basins has already been referred 
to above. All the species are specially adapted to cold, dry 
climates. White spruce, Picea canadensis, is the most abundant 
and the most important commercially. It is the only species 
that is suitable for even small saw timber and also shares with 
the other species the burden of supplying the firewood needs. 
Birch and cottonwood are, however, considered better for this 
latter purpose. 

With the variation in soil conditions there is a corresponding 
variation in the composition of the stands. In the deep soiled 
bottomlands along the streams pure stands of white spruce some- 
times occur but a mixture of this species with cottonwood and 
birch is more common. On the slopes immediately above the 
stream bottoms the same mixture prevails but the individual 
trees are distinctly smaller and less vigorous. On the ridges tree 
growth is scattered and stunted and generally confined to the 
depressions. On such poorly drained sites black spruce is the 
common species. 

Growth is slow even in the bottoms. The following data are 
taken from Kellogg's " The Forests of Alaska ": * 



Annual growth 



Diameter, inches 



Height, inches 



White spruce. 
White birch. . 



J- 



* Forest Service Bull. 81, " The Forests of Alaska," R. S. Kellogg, 1910. 



142 



ALASKA 



Yield varies with the kind of timber which in turn depends upon 
the soil conditions as has already been shown, consequently the 
heaviest stands are those of pure or mixed white spruce in the 
bottoms. Ten thousand board feet per acre is not uncommon 
but the average is more nearly half that. The slope and ridge 
stands yield much less per acre. Twenty cords per acre is high 
for the former while much of the latter growth is too small to be 
merchantable. 

Fire is the principal cause of damage. It is especially destruc- 
tive after lumbering and many thousands of acres have been 
seriously if not permanently damaged in this way. In a region 
where tree growth has so much to struggle against fire may be the 
deciding factor in preventing the return and spread of a forest 
cover. No serious insect or fungus diseases have been reported. 

Timber Valuation. — Since climatic and market conditions are 
so radically different for the different parts of Alaska it will be 
necessary to consider timber estimating, logging costs, sale and 
stumpage values separately for the coast and interior forests. 

An estimating crew in the coast forests outfits in one of the sea- 
board towns like Seattle, Sitka or Juneau and goes by boat to the 
tract to be looked over. An outfit of several units or one with a 
large amount of work ahead should by all means have its own 
vessel. Then the men can live aboard and be more comfortable 
than they would ashore. A power craft varying in size with the 
number in the crew makes an ideal boat for this purpose. 

Arrived at their destination a base line should be laid out along 
the beach. Then the strips may be run into the timber. Only 
a small percentage, relatively, need be estimated because the 
composition is usually uniform. But the actual running is dif- 
ferent because of the rough topography, heavy undergrowth and 
uneven surface. The slopes from sea level are always abrupt and 
covered with rocks and boulders which have rolled down from 
above. While the undergrowth is dense it seldom covers up 
completely the holes between the boulders but merely serves to 
conceal them. Furthermore, it is generally so wet from fog or 
rain that the estimating crew is thoroly drenched before going 
100 yards from the beach. These tilings do not make for rapid 



TIMBER VALUATION 143 

progress when the trees are close together even tho not large. 
In fact 20 strip acres a day is a good average. Hence, the 
cost per acre can seldom be brought down less than 5 cents even 
on tracts of more than 1000 acres. For smaller tracts it would 
of course be more. 

The typical logging job is handled much as follows: A crew 
of two to five men agree to put the logs into the water for $3 to 
$5 per M. After felling the tops are lopped and the tree put full 
length into the water. In the early days there was plenty of 
timber that could be either felled directly into tidewater or 
warped to the high water mark by hand. But most of these 
chances are gone now and it is more common to use the slack rope 
system of power skidding with a donkey engine mounted on a 
scow. In this way a distance of 900 feet can be covered. 

Once landed in the water it is generally an easy matter to 
gather the logs into a raft and tow them to the sawmill which is 
also located on tidewater. To get fair weather for these opera- 
tions logging is usually confined to the summer months. At the 
mill the full length logs are bucked and then passed by the saw, 
edger, trimmer, etc. Seldom can lumber be manufactured for 
less than $15 per M where all expenses are included. 

Sitka spruce, the commonest species, cuts the following per- 
centages of grades on the average: 

Per cent 

Clear 15 

No. I common 20 

No. 2 15 

Box 20 

Dimension 20 

CuU 5 

95 

For the mill run the pre-war price was $15 per M but the demand 
for airplane spruce has, of course, forced this up. For hemlock 
the demand has been and is less so that the mill run value is at 
least $2 lower. Cedar goes mostly into shingles where it has 
brought a mill run wholesale price of about $18 per M. Con- 
sequently there is a very small margin for stumpage and profit. 



144 



ALASKA 



On the Tongass National Forest the following stumpage prices 
prevailed in 191 7: 

PerM 

Cedar $2 . 50 

Spruce ■ 2.CXD 

Hemlock. i 00 

In general, therefore, it is safe to say that there is very little profit 
in manufacturing lumber in southwestern Alaska. Wages and 
supplies are high. Unless there is an active local demand mills 
cannot operate successfully. Competition on the general mar- 
ket is out of the question. 

The manufacture of wood pulp is a different proposition. The 
finished product can be marketed successfully in the Pacific 
Coast cities to the south like Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. 
In addition to accessible timber there are many excellent water- 
powers within reach of tidewater. Consequently pulp mills are 
being installed even tho a large initial investment is required 
which makes their minimum period of profitable operation at 
least 10 years. Both hemlock and spruce are being used. 

The shingle business is profitable enough in normal years to 
justify placing an Alaskan product on the general market where 
red cedar is abundant. But it only occurs sparingly. The mills 
which have been operating are therefore small affairs merely 
supplying the local market. 

While all woods work is best carried on along the southern 
coast in the summer time, estimating, at least, in the interior 
can be done most advantageously during the winter. There are 
no mosquitoes then, the wet places are frozen over, and there is 
enough snow for snowshoes or skies. Of course it is cold, but a 
dry cold in which much lower temperatures can be borne than in 
a wet climate. Travel, off the short railroad lines, is entirely by 
dog team, reindeer or on foot. 

Two factors prevent rapid and cheap work. The timber is 
small and the bunches of merchantable trees are unevenly dis- 
tributed. As explained above the character of the soil determines 
in large measure the composition and quality of the stands. 
Hence the timber fit for sawing is confined to the river bottoms 



LAND VALUES 145 

and is limited in extent. In fact tliis is much like a second growth 
woodlot region in size of the timber and extent of the stands. 

The logging methods are different, however. While the mills 
are small they are permanent and draw their lumber from a con- 
siderable area by driving the streams. This means summer 
operation at the mill but the woods work may well be carried on 
during the winter. The snow is not heavy enough to interfere. 
It is merely sufficient to make skidding to the stream bank easy; 
consequently the modtis operandi is similar to that on small jobs 
in the northeastern United States. The trees are felled and 
bucked early in the fall and then the logs are skidded to the 
water's edge when the snow comes. There they stay until the 
spring break up carries them to the mill. 

On account of the high cost of supplies and consequent high 
wages logging costs are much above ordinary standards. Kel- 
logg reports that in 1909 the Fairbanks mills were paying $20 per 
M for ordinary spruce logs and $25 for extra long ones. Most 
of this charge represents logging costs because the Land Office 
was only charging a stumpage price of $1 per M for timber on 
Government land. There is, therefore, some compensation to 
the mill operator in the sale values of lumber. Again quoting 
Kellogg "common lumber brings about $35 per M at Fairbanks; 
boat lumber, which is of extra length and must be entirely sound, 
$80 a thousand." Allowing $6 per M for milling and yard charges 
there is a probable margin of $5 to $10 per M for profit. Ex- 
pressed on an acreage basis, the net yield per acre would not 
ordinarily exceed $150 for lumber. To this might in some cases 
be added $20 for cordwood, but usually cordwood cutting is a 
separate operation. Birch and spruce bring the best prices, $10 
a cord in Fairbanks in 1909 and $6 to $8 on the river bank. The 
usual price for cutting was $4 at that time so that there is a mar- 
gin of about $4 for profit, the stumpage charge of 25 cents being 
negligible. Hence a good stand of cordwood averaging 10 cords 
p>er acre would >aeld a net return of $40. 

Land Values. — When land is not mineral bearing there is a 
limited range of possible uses in Alaska. Tillage in the south- 
western part is greatly restricted by the small demands of the 



146 ALASKA 

scant population and the limited area of soil free enough from 
stones. A dense population, of course, forces the cultivation of 
even the steepest and rockiest soils but there is only one town with 
a population of over io,coo people and not more than a half 
dozen with 1000 or more people. Taking the territory as a 
whole there is only one inhabitant to every nine square miles. 
Hence, even in the neighborhood of the larger towns, tillage land 
does not bring a high price. An additional reason is, of course, 
the climate which sets very definite Umitations on the variety of 
crops. , These three factors, the small amount of level, stone-free 
soil, the limited demand, and the rigorous cHmate have kept the 
price of agricultural land low even in southwestern Alaska and 
in the central part of the territory they are even more restrictive. 
It is only in the vicinity of the larger towns that more than $20 
an acre may be obtained for stump land to be used for tillage. 

The use of cutover land for grazing likewise offers no adequate 
market for the great bulk of timberland. Grazing never can 
become an important industry because there is not the chance to 
produce feed to carry the stock thru the long winters. This 
holds true in spite of the fact that horses have been known to 
winter in the interior without shelter. They pawed thru the 
light snow and subsisted on the dried grass, but this was mere 
existence. 

For the production of timber the lands have a low valuation 
because even in the southwestern portion growth is relatively 
slow. In the interior the yields are so meagre that only very low 
returns can be expected from land devoted to timber production. 
In fact only the best of the coast forests will show land values of 
$5 or better for timber production and yet this is the highest use 
to which large portions of Alaska can be devoted. In fact the 
burden of proof should always be upon the other possible uses. 
In other words, while the returns from timber production per se 
are low they are much greater than from tillage or grazing in 
practically every case. In addition the indirect returns of the 
forest, its stream protective value especially where water powers 
are concerned and its aesthetic value should always be con- 
sidered. 



TITLES 147 

Titles. — Since the township system with sections a mile square 
is being extended to Alaska its land title problems are no different 
from those of the newer parts of the west. Tracts are easy to 
locate on the ground and claims of title are short and hence free 
from compUcations. 



CHAPTER XIX 
PORTO RICO 

General Conditions. — As in temperate climates the amount of 
available moisture is the controlling factor in tropical tree dis- 
tribution. This is the amount left in the soil after that evapo- 
rated and that which is run off is deducted from the total annual 
precipitation. For Porto Rico the latter varies from 169 to 21 
inches. The trade winds are the dominant influence. Where 
they blow directly off the sea the rainfall is abundant but where 
they must rise up over a mountain range the leeward side is 
invariably dry. This accounts for the great variation in annual 
precipitation. The south or leeward side is sheltered from the 
trade winds by three ranges of mountains which comprise the 
greater part of the islands. Hence it is only the northern slopes 
of these mountains that are well enough" watered to support vigor- 
ous tree growth because the evaporation and runofif are so great 
in the tropics- that the total annual precipitation must be at least 
60 inches to support dense vegetation. Its distribution is a mat- 
ter of secondary importance since many tree species are able to 
endure a prolonged dry season by shedding their leaves. 

The great evaporation due to high temperatures has already 
been referred to above; 76° F. is the annual mean for the whole 
island. This means, of course, tnat there is no cessation 61 growth 
thruout the year by reason of cold. 

The effect of the mountain ranges on the distribution of rain- 
fall has already been described. To give a more definite picture 
of the island it is merely necessary to add that only 20 per cent 
is plains country while the remaining 80 per cent is made up of 
mountains, ranging in elevation from a few hundred feet above 
sea level to a maximum of 3400 feet. From the mountains flow 
over 1300 named streams of which the Plata River is the largest 
and longest. 

Unfortunately not enough is known about the tree distribution 

148 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 149 

to make tree types based on differences in soil conditions as well 
as climatic differences. That can only come with more intensive 
study than even was possible for L. S. Murphy in his careful ex- 
amination of the forest resources of the island.* In view of 
more detailed information his types are followed, viz. : 

Per cent 

1. Mangrove type 8 

2. Dry tidal woodland typ)e 

3. Moist deciduous tj^je 7 

4. Rain forest type 62 

5. Dry deciduous type 23 

The area percentages do not represent present acreages but the 
areas contained within the various types now and before the 
settlement of the island. 

The first, or mangrove type,- is confined to the margins of tide 
water not subject to strong wave action and on the northern and 
eastern sides of the island where the precipitation is high. In 
other words, it needi protection from direct wind and abundant 
moisture. Hence, on the leeward south and west portions of the 
island where the rain bearing winds are shut off by the mountains 
the i-ype is only found along the mouths of the larger streams 
where the sea water is diluted enough to offset the lack of rain 
water. Commercially the mangrove type is valuable for two 
purposes, firewood and tanning material. Virgin stands should 
yield six cords per acre of fuel and 10 tons of bark, but there are 
few such stands in Porto Rico because this type is usually found 
close to the settlements and has consequently been heavily 
exploited. 

Immediately above the mangrove swamps on the sandy and 
gravelly beaches occurs a type which has become purely man- 
made in its composition. This is where the introduced cocoanut 
palm has taken root most readily until it is characteristic of the 
West Indies that the shores of the sheltered coast line should be 
fringed with stands of this exotic species. In fact it is impossible 
to determine at this time what the original species were but rather 

* U. S. Forest Service Bulletin 354, " The Forests of Porto Rico," L. S. Murphy, 
1916. 



I50 



PORTO RICO 



than name it after the dominant tree at present Murphy has pre- 
ferred to call it the " dry tidal woodland type." 

The next two types contained the greatest amount of timber 
before settlement disturbed natural conditions because they 
occupied the portions of the island that are favored with heavy 
precipitation. The first of these, the moist deciduous type, is 
confined to areas having at least 60 inches of rainfall but with a 
short but distinct dry season which forces many of the trees to 
shed their leaves. Most of the type has been cleared for tillage 
but a few remnants indicate its composition. Tabanuco — Da- 
cryodes excelsa Vahl — is the only important species which can 
be used as a substitute for softwood. Its wood is similar to that 
of yellow poplar and the tree is also found in pure stands so that 
it may be logged cheaply. The other commercial species in this 
moist deciduous type are hardwoods not suitable for general 
construction work but mainly used for cabinet work. 

The rain forest type, on the other hand, which is characterized 
by the lack of a dry season and abundant precipitation thruout 
the year has several important species which have wood soft 
enough to make good substitutes for pine. The most valuable of 
these are: 

Cedro — Cedrela Odorata L. 
Tabanuco — Dacryodes excelsa Vahl. 
Laurel sabino — MagnoUs splendeus Urba 
Guaraguao — Guarea trichilioides L. 

All are large trees, that is, over 75 feet in height and three feet in 
diameter when mature. Best of all they form stands dense 
enough to log economically; 15,000 board feet per acre is not 
uncommon in virgin stands. In addition there are scattered 
hardwoods like mahogany — Swietenia mahagoni Jacq — and 
ausubo — Sider oxylon foetidissimum Jacq — valuable on ac- 
count of their durability and ornamental qualities to increase 
the productivity of this type. Unfortunately very little of the 
original forest is now left in this type because the land has been 
practically all cleared for agriculture. 

The dry deciduous type is preeminently the home of the 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 151 

heavy, hard woods like lignum vitae, ebony, etc. The dry 
season is long, so long in fact that the trees are not able to attain 
large diameter or height growth. Sixty feet for the latter and 
two feet for the former are the maxima. Neither are the stands 
dense and except for the undergrowth of cacti a horse may be 
ridden anywhere. At the same time the following species have 
such valuable qualities that they are logged in spite of their 
short and crooked boles: 

Cabinet woods. 
Lignum vitae — Guajacum officinale L. 
Algarroba — Hymenaea courbaril L. 
Moca — Andira jamaicensis (W. W.) Urb. 
Dye wood — logwood — Haematoxylum campech. 
Corkwood or balsa wood. Oshroma lagopus Siv. 

But highly prized as these species are they do not offer attractive 
logging because they never occur in pure stands but are found 
singly, seldom more than one to the acre of any one species. 
Consequently even virgin stands are low in yield, rarely exceeding 
2000 board feet per acre. 

Murphy's estimate of the present stand is 2,487,000 cords, or 
approximately one cord per acre, only half of which can be sawn 
into logs. Hence, it is evident that except in the most inacces- 
sible places there is not enough timber to attract a lumberman. 
Nothing else can be expected when it is remembered that the 
rural population is denser than in any state of the Union. In 
fact only 2 per cent of the total land area still has virgin forests 
and not more than 8 per cent has saw timber. The rest of the 
20 per cent is simply brushland which will yield merely firewood . 



CHAPTER XX 
PHILIPPINES 

The Philippine Islands are one of the few reservoirs of tropical 
timber which have been carefully investigated. The Spanish 
Government had granted very few alienations so that when the 
United States took possession of the islands in 1898 there were 
41,000 square miles of virgin forests placed under our control. 
Since that time the Philippine Bureau of Forestry has been sys- 
tematically estimating the stands, looking for suitable logging 
chances and testing the different kinds of timber. Hence, there 
are few equal areas of tropical woodland which have been so 
thoroughly described. The data here presented were obtained 
from the publications of the Insular government and special 
papers in the technical journals. 

The total land area in the islands of 123,000 square miles is 
divided as follows: 

• Per cent 

Tillage 10 

Grassland 4° 

Second growth timberland i6f 

Virgin forest 333 

100 

Only the virgin forest has been reported upon by the Philippine 
Bureau of Forestry. The second growth stands occur on areas 
which have reforested after being abandoned for tillage and do not 
contain merchantable timber in amounts large enough to repay 
anything but local development on a small scale. 

The Bureau of Forestry has divided the virgin forest into the 
following forest types : 

Per cent of 
virgin forest area 

Dipterocarp types 75 

Molave type 10 

Pine type 5 

Mangiove type 2 

Mossy (mountain) forest tj^e 8 

100 
152 



DIPTEROCARP TYPES 1 53 

Dipterocarp Types. — Commercially as well as In extent the dip- 
terocarp types arc the most important. The average stands per 
acre of valuable timber range from 2 to 45M board feet \vith 
an average of loM. Fortunately, too, a high percentage of the 
stands consists of species which yield easily worked construction 
lumber similar in characteristics to the yellow poplar of the 
southern Appalachians. In fact, the determination of this impor- 
tant point was unique in tropical lumbering. It had been assumed 
heretofore that the only valuable species were the cabinet woods 
like mahogany, ebony, and lignum vitae and that tropical build- 
ing construction must depend upon the pines of the temperate 
zone for its cheap building material. Moreover, this puts an 
entirely different aspect on things for the lumberman. The 
cabinet woods do not occur in heavy stands but scattered singly 
so that only the crudest logging methods have been employed in 
their exploitation but a stand of loM board feet per acre justifies 
the installation of the economical steam skidding methods 
developed for the heavy stands of the northwest and reduces 
greatly the cost per M of getting out tropical lumber. 

Of all the dipterocarp types the one with the heaviest stands per 
acre is the lauan type on which the lauans, with wood like our 
yellow poplar, predominate, and in which stands of 45M per acre 
are not uncommon. This occurs, as might be expected, on the 
deep soiled sites where the rainfall is evenly distributed thruout 
the year and abundant, i.e. over 60 inches per annum. Given 
plenty of precipitation it may extend up to an elevation of 1000 
feet above sea level where the temperature conditions become 
unfavorable. A good idea of the composition of the type may 
be obtained from the following table which is based on the 
measurement of over 100 acres of strip surveys: 

Per cent 
Red lauan 41 

Almon-lauan^ 20 

Apitong 14 

Tanguile 13 

White lauan 



Bagtican lauan . 

Other species 6 

100 



154 PHILIPPINES 

The red, almon, white and bagtican lauan and tanguile are all 
suitable for light and medium construction work having wood 
similar to that of yellow poplar and Douglas fir, hard pine. This 
means that they are not durable in contact with the ground or 
resistant to white ant attack but neither are their competitors. 
Nevertheless, they can fill the demand in the tropics which is 
now being met by importations of northern softwoods. Further- 
more, the better grades are being shipped to the United States as 
" Philippine mahogany." Apitong, altho also a dipterocarp, is 
harder and heavier than the lauan group and tanguile. It is 
suitable for heavy construction work where it will not be in con- 
tact with the ground, and enters directly into competition with 
the imported hard pine. 

The second dipterocarp type, the lauan hagachac type, occupies 
sites similar climatically to those of the lauan type but the growth 
conditions are less favorable because during the rainy season there 
is an excess of soil moisture in the bottomlands which this type 
preempts. Light construction woods like lauan and amugius 
make up 41 per cent of the total average stand of 16,000 board 
feet per acre while the heavier woods suitable for interior framing 
compose 25 per cent. Among the remaining 34 per cent, narra, 
the most common commercial wood of the PhiHppines and a sub- 
stitute for mahogany and padouk, is the only one that deserves 
special mention. It makes up 5 per cent of the total stand. 
Summing up, 7 1 per cent of the total volume of this type finds a 
ready sale on the local markets with the export trade compara- 
tively undeveloped as yet. 

In the yacal-lauan type a smaller percentage of the total stand 
is readily marketable but the stands are heavier. Of the average 
stand of 28M feet per acre 17 per cent consists of the softer dip- 
terocarps, 20 per cent of the harder varieties of wood suitable for 
interior framing but not where great durabiHty is required, and 
20 per cent of durable woods which can be used in contact with 
the ground and will resist white ant attacks. This type occurs on 
volcanic soil at low elevations where the rainfall is abundant but 
irregular. The dry season is often prolonged enough to cause the 
fall of many of the leaves so that the type is semi-deciduous. 



MOLAVE TYPE 



155 



A dry season and consequent falling of the leaves Is also charac- 
teristic of the lauan-apitong type. This is, in fact, the main 
character which separates it from the lauan type. Otherwise, it 
occupies much the same sort of sites, the foothills below an eleva- 
tion of 400 meters above sea level. Ordinarily, no durable 
woods occur in this type but 42 per cent of the average stand of 
28M feet per acre are the harder dipterocarps suitable for interior 
framing and cabinet purposes. The soft dipterocarps compose 
26 per cent of the stand. 

The remaining dipterocarp type, the tanguile-oak type, has 
not yet been so thoroly studied as the other types because it is 
not so important commercially on account of its relative inacces- 
sibility. It occupies the middle mountain slopes between the 
lauan and lauan-apitong types and the mossy-forest type at ele- 
vations between 400 and 900 meters above sea level. Tanguile 
is the important species commercially. Its wood is fairly soft 
but not durable so that it is mainly used for interior construction 
purposes. 

The composition of the dipterocarp types is summed up in the 
following table: 

COMPOSITION OF DIPTEROCARP TYPES 



Types 


Dipterocarps suitable 

for 
construction woods 


Durable 
woods 


Misc. 
species 


Total 
stand per 




Soft 


Hard 




Lauan 


Per cent 
80 
41 
17 
26 


Per cent 

IS 
25 
20 
42 
(Data 


Per cent 

5 
20 

lacking) 


Per cent 

5 
29 

43 
32 


Mbd.ft. ! 
45 


Lauan-hagachac 


16 


Yacal-lauan 


28 


Lauan-apitong 


28 


Tanguile-oak 





Molave Type. — The molave, a near relative of teak and a sub- 
stitute for it, gives its name to a type which occurs on dry lime- 
stone soils where the drainage is so rapid that there is insufficient 
moisture for dense growth even tho the dry season is short. The 
type does not occur at elevations greater than 500 feet above sea 
level so that the temperature conditions are always tropical in 



156 PfflLIPPINES 

character. The great evaporation and rapid runoff produce con- 
ditions which are not favorable to either dense growth, rapid 
growth or great individual development. The traces are short 
and far apart. Commercially, however, this has been and is an 
important type because of its accessibility and the great demand 
for the hard, durable woods Uke molave, narra, trudalo, acle, 
banuyo, etc. Hence, altho the average stand under virgin con- 
ditions is only 3M per acre the tjq^e has been heavily exploited. 

Mangrove Type, — Another type which has relatively lowstands 
per acre but which has been heavily exploited by reason of its 
accessibility and the special value of its products is the man- 
grove type which fringes the shore line of protected salt waters. 
The trees cannot stand heavy surf but form a low dense growth 
in such relatively sheltered locations as the muddy flats at the 
mouths of the larger streams. Under virgin conditions the stand 
per acre has been found to run as high as 13M board feet of 
saw lumber altho this included a relatively small proportion of 
the trees. The type has been principally exploited for firewood 
and for tanbark and stands of five cords per acre or 10 tons of 
bark are not unusual. Growth is fairly rapid so that the same 
area may be cut over for fuel and bark at intervals of at least 
20 years. 

Pine Type. — Stands of pine averaging 7M per acre and made 
up of trees 100 feet high and 30 inches in diameter occur in the 
high plateau region of northern and central Luzon at elevations 
ranging from 3000 to 5000 feet above sea level. The climate is 
distinctly cooler than at sea level so that growth is fairly rapid 
in spite of the long dry season. Unlike many species of pine 
these stands can stand considerable burning and are able to hold 
their own against the encroachments of the grass in spite of the 
frequent fires. 

Beach Type. — On the sandy beaches above tide water which 
have not been preempted for settlement and consequently had 
their original vegetation much modified there are light stands not 
exceeding 3M board feet per acre of such durable woods as ipil, 
narra, dungon, palo maria and agoho scattered among less val- 
uable species. 



TIMBER VALUES 157 

Mossy Type. — Another relatively unimportant type is the 
dense but scrubby tree growth found on the exposed mountain 
summits. None of these produces in sufficient amount to pay 
for its exploitation. 

Timber Values. — The determining factor in the methods of 
tropical estimating are the low values of stumpage per M and per 
acre. Even the valuable cabinet woods like mahogany and 
ebony are worth very little standing. They only become so 
when transported long distances to the user. As a consequence 
it is not worth while to estimate thern closely. It is sufficient to 
dfetermine that there is at least so much on a given tract. In 
other words, estimates of tropical timber need to be especially 
conservative. A wide margin of safety must be present in an 
enterprise which involves so many risks. By way of comparison 
the woodlots of New England lie at the other extreme. The 
manufacturing plants are close at hand and transportation never 
makes up more than 20 per cent of the sale value and from 
50 to 25 per cent is paid for stumpage. 

The problem being then to determine within 25 per cent how 
much timber there is on a tract relatively crude methods may be 
used, provided care is taken at every point to be on the safe side. 
Liberal allowance must be made for defect. While strips are 
safer, sample plots will often be good enough especially for large 
tracts. They should, however, be distributed in some regular 
manner or the tendency will be to take them in the better timber. 
Preferably they should be at fixed distances apart but time inter- 
vals will serve for large tracts if the rate of travel is kept uniform. 
For example a tract may be traversed at intervals of a mile and 
sample plots one-quarter acre in size taken every one-quarter mile. 
The costs of such estimates will necessarily be low per acre but 
relatively they will be high because of the cost of travel to the 
tropics. There are few firms that make a specialty of estimating 
tropical timber and maintain local agents. Consequently it is 
usually necessary to send from the temperate zone a man who 
is sufficiently acquainted with tropical conditions to make a safe 
estimate. But even under these circumstances a tract of 
100,000 acres ought to be valued for two cents per acre. 



158 PHILIPPINES 

The same principle holds with reference to stumpage prices 
that applied to estimating. An ample margin must be ensured 
on account of the risks involved. Markets are uncertain, 
methods are crude and inefficient and labor unskilled in the aver- 
age tropical lumbering job. For example, mahogany logs have 
commonly been felled with an axe, dragged overland with oxen 
or driven down the nearest stream. Even with cheap native 
labor these operations have been expensive so that there are 
very few mills whose logs cost less than $5 per M and many 
where the cost is two or three times that. Of course, the opera- 
tions equipped with modern steam skidding appliances do not 
have to pay so much but they are the exception rather than the 
rule. In fact, they are only feasible in heavy stands Hke the dip- 
terocarp forests of the Philippines. The logging of the better 
known tropical woods like mahogany. West Indian cedar, ebony, 
etc., is still carried on in a primitive way because the trees do 
not occur in dense stands but grow scattered. 

Likewise, the milling is expensive for several reasons. In the 
first place the timber is generally hard, heavy and difficult to 
season. Hardwood mill costs are always greater in the states 
than softwood costs. In the tropics there are two other factors 
which need consideration. Skilled labor is hard to obtain and 
hold. It must be imported at great cost and the men do not 
find living conditions for themselves and their families which 
attract them. Furthermore, deterioration of the machinery and 
buildings is very rapid in the moist, warm climate. Tools and 
machines can only be kept in order by extraordinary vigilance. 
Hence, mill charges in the tropics must be put at least 50 per 
cent higher than in the states. There are in fact few mills that 
got sawing alone done for less than $3 per M prior to the War. 
Planing, kilndrying and yard charges are proportionately high. 

Transportation from the mill to market is, however, the most 
difficult factor. This is, of course, simply another way of saying 
that the tropics are for the most part unequipped with cheap 
and rapid means of moving heavy freight. Water transport is 
the cheapest and it is safe to say that no sizable sawmill can be 
made to pay under present conditions unless it is on tidewater or 



TIMBER VALUES 159 

a navigable stream. Even then small steamers or sailing vessels 
must be relied upon which are not built specially for this kind of 
cargo. In the PhiUppines the cost varied from $5 to $30 per M, 
while an operation in Brazil marketing its product in Buenos 
Ayres had a charge of $20 per M to meet in 1915. 

Sale values in the wholesale markets may be illustrated by the 
prices paid in Manila in 19 10 when the softer, non-durable con- 
struction woods hke the dipterocarps were seUing for $25 to $30 
PQr M, hard durable timbers from $75 to $100, and the cabinet 
woods from $80 to $1 50. These prices would give ample margins, 
especially in the case of the cabinet woods, if there were no acci- 
dents, but the two limiting factors of primitive logging methods 
and poor transportation to market generally cut down the aver- 
age margin to less than $10 per M. 

In conclusion Dr. Whitford's words (Bulletin 10, The Forests 
of the Philippines, Part I) may be used to give a bird's-eye view 
of the situation because they apply to all kinds of tropical lum- 
bering: — 

" To sum up, the high cost of placing the timber of the Philip- 
pines on the market is due to the following causes: (i) The 
high cost of logging, due principally to the crude methods em- 
ployed and to lack of proper supervision; (2) the excessive 
cost of milUng, due to (a) insufficient equipment and poor 
arrangement of the mill, (b) to the difficulty of getting compe- " 
tent men to manage the operations, and (c) to a consequent loss 
in sawing due to excessive waste and poorly manufactured 
material; (3) as yet no company has a capacity sufl&cient to 
warrant their owning or hiring vessels especially adapted to 
carrying lumber to the home or foreign markets. The condi- 
tions above described are distinctly pioneer in nature. A few 
companies have successfully met some of them, but none have 
as yet succeeded in meeting the entire situation. When they 
do, they will be able to compete with all other timbers of like 
grades in the foreign and home markets." 

Besides the value of the Philippine forests for the production 
of lumber a number of other special products are obtained from 
them. Fuel purposes, for example, actually consume a larger 



i6o PHILIPPINES 

total amount of wood than lumber uses but it is nearly all for 
local consumption and is gathered in small amounts. The man- 
grove swamps being nearest to the settlements along the shores 
have had to furnish most of this material. Firewood was worth 
$12.50 a cord in Manilla in 1910. 

Another important use of the mangrove swamps is for dye- 
stuff. Tannins are also obtained from this type, the " cutch " 
being made from the bark. The resins for caulking, paint and 
illuminating purposes come from the native pines and the diptero- 
carps. Gutta percha and rubber can be obtained from many 
wild species of trees and vines and the cultivation of rubber has 
passed the experimental stage. Various oils useful for soap or 
medicinal purposes are collected for local consumption. Tying 
material also comes largely from the forest. Rattan is another 
tropical forest product which is not only used for tying large 
packages like bales of hemp and tobacco but is also employed for 
furniture and hats. But unquestionably the erect palms are the 
most useful of any single class of trees. Their trunks are used in 
building either on the round or spUt, the leaves make mats, 
roofing, etc., and the fruit is edible in several species. 

What the value of these minor products is per acre for any 
given type of forest cannot be stated in general terms. Each 
case must be examined separately because of the paramount 
influence of local market conditions. Many of these have no 
value at all over wide areas under present transportation con- 
ditions. 

Land Values. — In figuring the value of the land itself in the 
Philippines there are the same three possibilities to be considered 
in each case as in temperate climates, — tillage, pasturage and 
forestry. It must be assumed that because the cHmate is warm 
enough for a great variety of plant growth that all soil is poten- 
tially tillable. Other factors need to be considered, the most 
important of which are the amount of rainfall and the slope and 
to a lesser degree the kind of soil, whether clay, sand or gravel, 
and percentage of rocks in the surface layer. The common 
conception of the tropics as a place of ample rainfall is erroneous 
for the regions where the mean annual precipitation is less than 



TIMBER VALUES l6l 

30 inches. There must be at least that much to offset the rapid 
evaporation and for the growing of crops without irrigation 
60 inches well distributed throughout the year is a safe minimum. 
Consequently there are some parts of the Philippines where 
irrigation is the sine qua non of successful agriculture. Slope is 
the Hmiting factor second in importance. With the heavy 
downpours of rain and the open winters slopes cannot be tilled 
as long as in the temperate zones. As a consequence only the 
level lands are kept in permanent tillage and clearings made on 
slopes are only cultivated a few years before being allowed to 
revert to tree growth. The character of the soil is of importance 
primarily from the standpoint of its abiHty to hold water. The 
open gravels and sands are only tillable where the rainfall is over 
6b inches per annum. The percentage of rocks in the upper layer 
is of less importance in the tropics than in temperate regions 
because the processes of disintegration are rapid and surface rocks 
quickly break down. Summing up, then, only the level clays and 
loams are desirable for tillage and the rainfall must be abundant 
or irrigation possible. Such lands near the market and extensive 
enough to make up large units are worth fully $100 an acre 
when ready for cultivation. The extent of the tillable area is a 
matter of prime importance because tropical agriculture is neces- 
sarily a large scale enterprise because of the remoteness of 
markets. Aside from the trifling local demand which is mainly 
met by produce from their own gardens all foodstuffs must be 
shipped to the temperate regions for the feeding of the dense 
populations there. This means that transportation is the con- 
trolling factor. Consequently there are no large plantations 
which do not have their own wharfs or ready access to ones 
where sea-going vessels may dock. Furthermore, a plantation 
must have its own fleet of vessels or be at the mercy of the 
transportation companies. In other words the tropics are no 
place for the small scale agriculturist. Only large concerns 
farming vast areas and shipping in their own bottoms have been 
successful. 

Grazing is, as always, a low use of land and this dictum applies 
with special force to the tropics because there are no high class 



l62 PHILIPPINES 

grazing lands. A sod cannot form except on level land suited to 
tillage. The slopes erode as fast as the tree growth is cleared 
from them. This should not be understood to mean that there 
is not a large acreage which is being used as range in the Philip- 
pines but it is in relatively small bodies, poor in quaUty and dete- 
riorating in carrying capacity. None of it is worth more than 
50 cents an acre for this purpose alone. 

Comparatively little is as yet known in regard to the producing 
value of tropical timberlands. The problem of determining the 
age of stands is more complicated than in temperate regions 
because annual rings are not formed. It becomes necessary, 
therefore, to depend upon records of growth. From these it 
would appear that the better watered soils can produce stands of 
merchantable saw timber in less than 50 years. Hence it follows 
that tree production or forestry is second to tillage as a use of 
land. On the steeper and more arid soils it is often the only 
profitable use. As a general policy it may safely be stated that 
a change from forestry to tillage or grazing will not be profitable 
in the long jun unless the land can be devoted to cultivated crops. 

Land Titles. — ^As explained above, the title to the principal 
forest areas in the Philippines is in the United States by direct 
transfer from the Spanish Government. In the few cases where 
timberland is in private hands a satisfactory title is hard to 
obtain. Accurate surveys are practically unknown and many 
transfers unrecorded. Then, too, the problem of undivided 
ownership often occurs. For example the title to a tract of land 
may rest in the descendants of a grantee several generations back 
without any attempt by the heirs to parcel the land out. 



CHAPTER XXI 

TIMBER VALUATION 

In the determination of the value of standing timber, or stump- 
age value, the following four factors must be considered: 

1 . The amount of the timber in board feet, cubic feet, coras 

or other unit. 

2. The quality of the timber. 

3. Sale value of the finished product whether lumber, cord- 

wood, etc. 

4. The costs of manufacture including logging, milling, etc., 

and a reasonable profit to the logger and mill man 

Estimating. — It is not necessary to discuss here in detail the 
various methods employed in determining the amount of stand- 
ing timber. It does seem apropos, however, to summarize the 
facts which have been developed in the discussion of the different 
types of timber with reference to the costs of estimating. 

The cheapest kind of an estimate is, of course, a guess and 
strangely enough this method is employed widely with one of our 
most valuable types of timberland, second growth white pine. 
The reasons for this are that the stands are remarkably uniform 
in size and density while there is but one merchantable species 
and the tracts are small. It is perfectly possible for an experi- 
enced operator to guess within 5 per cent of the true amount. 
But no man would feel safe in applying this method to large tracts 
which he could not walk all over in a day. Hence it happens 
that large tracts of cheap stumpage such as are found in the 
tropics must be taken as examples of the second cheap method of 
estimating, the sample plot method. In this way a large area can 
be covered expeditiously and yet sufficiently accurate results ob- 
tained. For most cases the third method — the strip system — 
is the best. Where the tract is large, the stand uniform and the 
stumpage cheap the percentage of the area actually measured may 

163 



l64 TIMBER VALUATION 

be small while on small tracts of valuable timber, and especially 
in complex stands, the percentage should be high. As an illus- 
tration of the former conditions the Douglas fir type on the 
Pacific may be cited. The percentage estimated may run as 
low as I per cent and seldom exceeds 5 per cent. On the other 
hand, only high percentages will give satisfactory results in the 
valuable white pine of the Lake States or the mixed stands in the 
southern Appalachian coves. The following table summarizes 
the methods and percentages applicable in the different types: 



Per cent 

Northern spruce strip method 5 to 10 

Northern hardvvoods 

White pine 

Swamp 

Southern hardwoods 

Bottomlands 

Southern pine 

Western yellow pine 

Lodgepole pine 

Engelmann spruce 

Silver pine 

Sugar pine 

Douglas fir 

Sequoia 

Alaska 



10 to 20 

25 to 100 

5 to 25 

5 to 100 

5 to 10 

5 to 10 

5 to 10 

5 

5 to 10 

10 

10 to 20 

5 to 10 



I to 



Tropics strip or sample plot i to 5 

Wages and food costs vary in general directly with the acces- 
sibility. A man demands more to go into the wilderness and his 
food costs more than when he is working near settlements. 

The accessibihty is also the most important factor in base line 
and corner location. The longer a region has been settled the 
better the surveys are in most cases. Unfortunately, this rule 
does not hold for most of the thirteen original states. The south- 
eastern Atlantic states are notorious for their confused and over- 
lapping land grants, while many of the newly settled western 
states have fairly good surveys to tie to, thanks to the rectan- 
gular land survey system. 

The size of the trees, their number per acre and their variety 
are also factors which afifect the cost of estimating. Medium 
sized trees are the easiest to estimate closely while the stands with 



ESTIMATING 



165 



a great range in diameter and height require constant checking 
to prevent errors. It is, of course, axiomatic that more time is 
required to cover dense stands than open stands. Likewise, a 
large number of different species slows down the estimator. 
Estimating in the mixed stands of the Southern Appalachians 
takes more time than estimating in pure stands of white pine other 
things being equal. 

The following table summarizes estimating costs including the 
necessary office work in the different regions and offers a chance 
for a comparison of the amounts required under various condi- 
tions: 



Type of timber 



Spruce 

Northern hardwoods. . . 

White pine 

Northern swamp 

Southern hardwoods 

Cove 

Slope 

Ridge 

Bottomlands 

Southern pine 

Western yellow pine 

Lodgepole pine 

Engelmann spruce 

Silver pme , 

Sugar pine 

Douglas fir 

Redwood 

Alaska (?^"^^°^if.-^Pr^^^ 
I Spruce-birch. . . . 

Tropics 



Per cent 
covered 


Minimum cost 
per acre 




Cents 


10 


15 


10 


ID 


10 


10 


10 


ID 


25 


45] 


}■» 


10 average 


5 


3] 


10 


15, 


10 


7l 


10 


4 


5 


10 


10 


IS 


10 


10 


10 


10 


5 


6 


10 


10 


5 


7 


% 


7 
2 



Minimum costs are given because average figures would be of little 
value without some knowledge of the range and the upper hmits 
are exceedingly variable. In fact the main use of the table is 
to show the relative costs. For example, costs are ordinarily 
lowest — two cents to four cents an acre — in such widely 
separated regions as the western yellow pine type of the Rocky 
Mountains and the tropics. In the case of the latter the low per- 
centage estimated is sufficient to account for the low cost while the 
uniformity of the stands, freedom from underbrush and low value 



l66 ' TIMBER VALUATION 

of the timber explain why western yellow pine can be estimated 
cheaply. The timber of Alaska also falls into this group. 

In the next group — that in which the cost per acre is seldom 
less than five cents — are types from various parts of the 
United States. They have the same minimum cost for various 
reasons. The lodgepole pine of the Rocky Mountains occurs in 
dense stands of uniform size, not readily accessible and hence not 
especially valuable. Silver pine stands on the other hand are 
valuable but they are so uniform in size and composition that they 
can be covered rapidly. The costs for southern hardwoods are 
also low in spite of the variety of species because of the low stump- 
age values and openness of the stands. This statement is true 
even tho the southern hardwood coves contain dense stands of 
valuable species for the reason that the coves form but a small 
percentage of the type. 

In the seven to eight cent group fall the open stands but high 
priced stumpage of the southern pine type; the dense, inacces- 
sible Engelmann spruce, and the heavy but low priced stands of 
Douglas fir, redwood and sugar pine. 

Northern hardwoods and northeastern white pine cost about 
the same per acre because the stumpage values are liigh. The 
greater value of the pine offsets the larger number of species in 
the hardwood type. 

The most expensive types to estimate are northern spruce and 
the southern bottomlands. Both have relatively valuable 
stumpage and both are inaccessible with poorly marked boundary 
lines. 

Quality of Timber. — Of the factors that effect the quahty of 
timber, size is the most important. Other things being equal the 
wider and longer a stick of lumber is the more valuable it is. The 
largest sizes can naturally be secured from the Pacific Coast where 
the cUmatic conditions have favored the growth of large, tall 
trees of unusual dimensions, so that the sequoias, Douglas fir, 
sugar pine, silver pine or western larch are sought when excep- 
tionally wide or long lumber is needed. The east can, however, 
give lumber of no small size from its white pine, southern yellow 
pine and yellow poplar. In fact, these species grow large enough 



QUALITY OF TIMBER 167 

for common uses and it is the practice to cut down to normal 
size most of the western coast lumber put on the market. 

The other types of timberland not listed above produce medium 
sized trees with the exception of considerable spruce and lodge- 
pole pine which comes on the market in small sizes. 

Technical defects vary with the use to which the trees are to 
be put and the species. For example, less than 10 per cent of the 
average eastern red spruce tree could be used for airplane stock 
because only clear, straight grained wood would meet the require- 
ments. On the other hand at least 60 per cent of a tree of the 
same species can be used for pulp wood. Hence it is always neces- 
sary m estimating the value of a tract of timber to be armed with 
a full knowledge of the uses to which the trees are to be put 
and what technical defects preclude them from such use. 
This means that the estimator must know exactly what effect 
knots, spiral grain, and color of sap wood or heartwood have on 
the sale value of the species being valued. 

Closely related to the deductions for technical defects are 
allowances made for damage from fire, insects, fungi, wind, snow- 
break, noxious gases, etc. They are in fact determined in the 
same way, by a close study of the cull made at the sawmill or 
manufacturing plant. Usually it is not necessary or possible to 
separate the efTects of the different kinds of damage. Simply a 
lump estimate of cull is sufficient. This may run from 60 per cent 
of the log in the case of high grade quartered stock to less than 
2 per cent in the case of boxboards. It must always be deter- 
mined locally because use possibilities, amount and degree of 
damage vary from tract to tract. 

The ideal to be attained in any logging operation is the most 
complete utilization that market conditions will permit. This 
should take into consideration not only the logs fit for lumber 
but the whole tree. By volume an average tree is made up as 
follows: 



i68 



TIMBER VALUATION 



Stump. . . 

Bole 

Limbs. . . 
Branches 
Bark 



Softwood 



Per cent 

S 
60 

15 



Hardwood 



Per cent 

5 
45 

20 

IS 
IS 



100 



It is readily seen that an operation which only takes out the butt 
logs is utiUzing a very small per cent of the whole tree. This 
often falls as low as 30 per cent where transportation is expensive. 
Reports on the value of a tract of timber should always take this 
factor into consideration. It may well happen that a tract only 
capable of turning out low grade lumber, posts and cordwood 
may yield much more per acre, gross and net, than a tract of high 
quality timber on which market conditions do not permit close 
utilization. 

Sale Values. — The per cent of utilization is also a very impor- 
tant factor in determining sale values per acre because a high 
value per M may give no real notion of the returns to be expected 
from a tract if only a small portion of the tree can be gotten to 
the sawmill. In this discussion the value per acre will, therefore, 
be taken as the criterion altho lumbermen are more accustomed 
to think in terms of a thousand board feet than in terms of acres. 
In other words the point of view assumed is that of the man who 
wants to know how much a given tract will yield him rather than 
that of the operator who is interested in turning out a certain 
product. 

However, the determination of the sale value per M is, of 
course, the first step in figuring sale values per acre. A list is 
therefore given of these values for the important species at their 
nearest market point. These points must necessarily vary 
because there is no central market in which all kinds of lumber 
compete on an equal footing. Western fir, for example, only 
reaches the Atlantic Coast in the best grades while the lower 
grades are widely used locally. Further it must be remembered 
that the values given are averages for the log run. Grades can- 



SALE VALUES 169 

not be compared directly because they are intended to fill the 
requirements of special uses to which other species may not be 
suited at all. But in reaching the average values per M, log 
run, the percentage of the different grades and their respective 
sale values must be considered. This introduces a serious diffi- 
culty because these percentages vary within wide limits. Fur- 
thermore, the prices per M of the different grades are subject to 
fluctuations. Consequently it is impossible to give even for a 
specified date absolutely accurate figures. All that can be hoped 
is that the figures are relatively correct. 

The first table is a list of wholesale values by use classes. 
These prices are intended to represent the values at which retail 
yards may purchase from the mills that do their own marketing 
or from wholesalers handhng the product of several mills. They 
give for the principal classes of wood products the prices that 
obtain for lumber, cordwood, etc., designed for a certain purpose 
irrespective of species. Boston was chosen because it is a mar- 
ket close to the manufacturing centers and its prices represent 
maximum values. A fairer comparison of relative values can be 
secured in this way than if a market were selected which is not 
equally favorable to all kinds of wood. 

WHOLESALE VALUES PER M FOR THE PRINCIPAL USE GRADES OF 
WOOD PRODUCTS 

Based on Boston prices, Jan. i, 1920 

PerM 

Liunber: 

Tropical cabinet woods $250 

Quarter sawn oak 250 

Clear, extra wide softwood 200 

Native cabinet woods like black walnut 200 

Ash (clear stock) 15° 

Hickory (clear stock) 125 

Hardwood finish 125 

Hardwood flooring 100 

Softwood dimension 60 

Softwood inch boards 45 

Boxboards 35 

Shingles 4° 

Laths SO 



lyo TIMBER VALUATION 

Cord wood: 

Best hardwood $12 per cord 24 

Softwood $7.50 per cord 15 

Poles SO 

Ties 30 

Cooperage (tight and slack) 50 

Pulp 20 

Tanbark 10 

The next step is to use these figures in determining the values 
per M by species. Two considerations enter into this problem. 
It is necessary to know not only to what uses each species can 
be put but also what are the best uses for each part of the tree. 
To illustrate the first point the difference between cottonwood and 
curly maple may be cited. The former is wholly unfit for cab- 
inet wood. A recent example, fresh in everyone's mind, of the 
second point is airplane spruce. Material that will meet the 
rigorous specifications of the airplane manufacturer can only be 
secured from the butt logs of the larger trees. The upper logs 
are wholly unfit for this purpose. 

Taking up the use classes in order, the first may be quickly 
disposed of because tropical cabinet woods come only from the 
Philippines and to a very limited extent from Porto Rico, Panama 
and southern Florida. Mahogany and Spanish cedar are the 
most important species but only a very small proportion of the 
whole tree reaches the market. While there are no exact data 
it seems safe to say that not more than one-third of the whole 
tree reaches the market. In the first place only relatively clear, 
sound lumber can be used while poor transportation facilities 
make it desirable to leave in the woods all non-merchantable 
material. Consequently while the prices of merchantable 
tropical cabinet woods are high, the value per M of what would 
be salable with most tree species is low. With one-third of the 
tree reaching the market and a value per M of $150, the sale 
value judged by the ordinary standards of merchantability is 
reduced to $50 per M. Quarter sawn oak is exactly the same 
kind of a proposition — high prices for a small selected portion 
of the whole merchantable part of the tree judged by the stand- 
ards of merchantibility applied to other species. 



SALE VALUES 171 

Extra wide, clear softwood presents a different problem for 
while merely a small percentage of the tree gives lumber which 
can be included in this use class the rest of the tree is not wasted. 
As an example of the kinds of lumber obtainable, the sugar pine 
figures of Larsen's Bulletin No. 426 of the U. S. Forest Service 
may be cited. Converting lumber grades into use classes gives 
the following percentages: 

Per cent 

Wide clear lumber (firsts and'seconds) 15 

Sound lumber with small knots, "dimension" or "shop" 30 

Timber with large knots only suitable for cutting up, " common " 
and " boxboard " grades 55 



The only other kinds of softwoods which would have as high a 
percentage of wide, clear stock are cypress, virgin white pine, 
silver pine, yellow poplar, and redwood. Basswood, cottonwood,, 
and yellow pine seldom average better than 10 per cent while 
Douglas fir and spruce cannot be depended upon for more than 
5 per cent. 

Of the native cabinet woods black walnut stands in a class by 
itself but like the tropical cabinet woods only a small proportion 
of the tree is ordinarily used. Fifty per cent would be a generous 
estimate even when the narrow strips used for gun stocks were to 
be cut. 

Ash and hickory are not used for the same purpose but their 
utilization is similar in method. While each possesses a special 
field in which it distances all competitors, only clear, sound stock 
can be used. This in turn means much waste judged by the 
ordinary standards of merchantability. 

Hardwood finish and flooring can be conveniently grouped 
because they are both made from narrow, clear lumber. While 
flooring is seldom over four inches wide the maximum width for 
No. I absolutely clear finish is six inches, so that there is no great 
difference in this regard. Braniff 's figures in U. S. Forest Service 
Bulletin 73 furnish the best indication of what may be expected 
from hardwood timber as far as high grade stock is concerned. 
He found that not more than 30 per cent of a lot of large, sound 



172 TIMBER VALUATION 

logs would give No. i and 2 grade which may have a limited num- 
ber of defects if more than 6 inches wide. The remaining 70 per 
cent of the log was only fit for common lumber from which no clear 
stuff was obtainable except in short lengths and narrow widths. 
Consequently finish and flooring do not give close utilization or 
high net returns. 

Softwood dimension lumber is really the first group which 
uses a reasonably large proportion of the log. Thirty per cent is 
the figure for sugar pine while species like Douglas fir and spruce 
which have very little clear lumber naturally give larger percen- 
tages if " dimension " or " shop " lumber. Both these grades 
are essentially the same. Soundness is the desideratum. If the 
species has stiff wood like spruce, dimension is the best use. If 
it is weak like pine it is graded as " shop " and cut up for door or 
sash stock. 

It is not, however, until the common inch board is reached that 
the greater part of a log can be thrown nto one use class. '' Com- 
mon " and " boxboards " are the grade names for the knotty 
lumber which comes from small and top logs and the inside of 
large logs. Even in such a large species as sugar pine 55 per cent 
of the average log must go into these grades. Small logs like 
those of second growth pine yield nothing else. Both hardwood 
and softwood " common " lumber go mostly into boxes and 
crates. 

Summing up, the grades of lumber which can be obtained from 
the average log are as follows: 

Per cent 
Softwood lumber: 

Clear, wide stock 15 

"Dimension" or "shop" 30 

Common and boxboards 55 



Per cent 

Hardwood lumber: 

Finish or flooring 30 

Common boards 70 



SALE VALUES I 73 

Ordinary sawn shingles utilize the same parts of a tree that 
lumber does. The only difference is that a higher per cent is 
manufactured than with square edge lumber because there is 
less waste in slabs and edgings. Shingles sell for $25 to $35 per 
M board feet, log scale. 

Laths furnish the only outlet for the sale of the slabs and edg- 
ings in the ordinary sawmill and even they cannot be manu- 
factured at a profit where there is a long freight haul to market. 
Reduced to board feet laths sell for about $20 per M (1920). 

So far only that 30 to 50 per cent of the solid cubic contents of 
the tree has been considered which is in the bole. 

Little attention need be paid the stump because it is only rarely 
merchantable and then at a low figure. This does not, however, 
apply in the case of the limbs which may be made to yield much 
valuable pulpwood, extract wood or firewood. All tree species 
may be cut for the latter purpose but there is a wide difference in 
their fuel value. A cord of pine will not give more than half the 
heat that a cord of hickory vdW. Distance to market is the con- 
trolling factor, however, since cordwood is bulky, heavy material 
which is hot valuable enough to repay shipping far. In the 
ordinary logging job it must be left in the woods. But where the 
haul is not too great the cordwood may add $1 to $5 to the profit 
on each thousand feet of lumber. 

Similar returns may be expected from pulpwood, extract wood 
and wood alcohol in favorable locahties. Yellow poplar is the 
most commonly used limb wood for the former while chestnut is 
the only species widely used for extract wood. Beech, birch and 
maple are most sought in the manufacture of wood alcohol. 

Poles are one of the few uses which utilize a high per cent of the 
tree. In addition to all that could be turned into lumber much 
that would otherwise be only fit for cordwood is taken. Unfor- 
tunately, relatively few species have sufficient durability in con- 
tact with the ground to be suitable for this purpose. Hence, 
90 per cent of all poles used in the United States are either cedar, 
chestnut or oak. 

Railway ties also make use of parts of the tree that are ordi- 
narily considered too coarse for lumber so that the utilization is 



174 



TIMBER VALUATION 



midway between that of lumber alone and lumber and cordwood 
combined. Durability is of the first importance here as with 
poles while hardness is scarcely less important. The species 
commonly used for poles are also those most sought for railway 

ties 

For tight staves only a few species are suitable and oak, white 
and red, is. the most desirable. In fact more than four fifths of 
all tight staves are of oak while whiskey and beer casks are made 
from white oak only. Moreover, these uses demand clear lum- 
ber so that they are not close in their utilization. Slack staves, 
on the other hand, can be made from medium grade lumber from 
a number of species and from small logs so that they utilize about 
60 per cent of the total cubic contents of the average tree. 

Summarizing the utilization obtainable with the various uses 
referred to above gives the following figures: 

Per cent of the 
whole tree 

Clear wide softwood 5 to 10 

Clear hardwood 15 

Dimension or shop lumber 15 

Common boards 35 

Shingles 60 

Laths 10 

Cordwood 20 to 80 

Poles 70 

Ties 20 to 70 

Cooperage, tight 15 

Pulp 20 to 80 

Tanbark (usually in addition to other uses) 

Having discussed the sale values of the various kinds of wood 
products and the per cent of each which can be obtained from the 
different commercial tree species, the two may be combined to 
give average sale values per M for each species. These differ 
from the Forest Service log run average prices f.o.b. mill in two 
important respects. In the first place, the table given below 
takes into consideration the use of wood for other purposes than . 
lumber. Tops and bark are included wherever merchantable. 
Secondly^ the values are wholesale prices in a recognized market, 
not values f.o.b. the producing point to which uncertain freight 



SALE VALUES 175 

rates must be added to make it possible to compare them intel- 
ligently. The Forest Service figures were, of course, used as a 
check. 

Two objections may be validly made against these figures. 
They are, in the first place, merely for one market. Other mar- 
kets may vary greatly in their prices for a given product. While 
it is obviously impossible to deny this criticism, it is equally out 
of the question to correct it by giving in the limited space 
available data for all the wood markets. Even a selection of the 
most important would be difficult to decide upon and not espe- 
cially helpful. The prime use of the figures is for purposes of 
comparison. No work of this kind could be expected to be revised 
frequently enough to keep up to date with daily market changes. 
The second objection is that the values given are more nearly 
maximum than average. Minimum prices would be of no use 
because there is no lower limit beyond which the necessities of a 
seller may not force him. If he must sell current market quota- 
tions merely represent an unattainable maximum. Since there 
is, therefore, no absolute minimum maximum prices are the only 
ones that can be secured in sufficient abundance to prevent gross 
errors. They are the prices sellers Uke to give out. They are 
published in all trade journals while figures of actual transactions 
are guarded jealously. 

Much the same conditions prevail in the choice of uses to which 
wood may be put. High grade mahogany is frequently used in 
the tropics for firewood or railway ties, but such uses do not 
interest the woodland owner. He wants to know how he may 
get the most out of his timber. Therefore, it has been assumed in 
figuring the average values that each part of the tree is put to its 
highest use. 

The tree species which have been discussed so far fall into three 
groups when arranged according to their values per M with all 
parts of the tree included. This grouping may appear strange 
at the first glance unless it is remembered that all the mer- 
chantable parts of a tree are considered, tops and bark as well as 
those portions which will make lumber. The importance of such 
figures is easily apparent to the woodland owner who plans on 



176 TIMBER VALUATION 

producing continuous crops of timber. What he wants to know 
is what will bring him the most per acre. In other words, his 
point of view is different from that of the lumberman who thinks 
only in terms of logs. In fact the acreage, and not the log, basis 
seems the reasonable attitude for all timberland owners to take 
irrespective of whether they are going to raise continuous crops. 
In purchasing or operating a tract the owner is anxious to get a 
large net yield per unit area irrespective of whether it comes from 
choice logs or branchwood. Like the meat packer the timber- 
owner can no longer afford to neglect his by-products. 
Wholesale values per M feet board measure in timber and 
supplementary products at mill, January i, 1920. 

Group I. Values of $50 per M and more. 

A . Cabinet and furniture woods with merchantable tops. 

Yellow poplar, walnut, white and red oak, maple, 
■birch, and black cherry. 

B. Wide, clear softwoods, tops not merchantable. 

Virgin white pine, silver pine, sugar pine, and red- 
wood. 

C. Softwood valuable for interior finish and dimension 

stock, tops usually merchantable. 
Southern yellow pine. 

D. Special hardwoods, tops merchantable. 

Ash and hickory. 

Group II. Values of $40 per M and more. 

A. Second grade hardwoods, tops usually not merchant- 

able. 
Chestnut, black oak, basswood, red gum, cotton- 
wood and tupelo, beech. 

B. Softwoods mostly used for dimension timber. 

Cypress, western yellow pine, western larch, spruce, 
and Douglas fir. 

C. Shingle woods. 

White cedar and western red cedar. 

D. Pencil and chest wood — eastern red cedar. 



SALE VALUES I 77 

Group III. Values of $25 per M and more 

A . Low grade softwoods. 

Hemlock and balsam. 

B. Tropical hardwoods. 

Mahogany, ebony, etc. 

With this table of values for the individual species and figures 
for stand per acre for each type it is possible to figure comparative 
gross values per acre by types. As with the other tables of the 
same kind the absolute values per acre are not as useful as a com- 
parison of the values. To bring out more clearly this essential 
feature, the relative returns which can reasonably be expected, 
the types are arranged in descending order. 

GROSS RETURNS PER ACRE OF THE FOREST TYPES IN THE 
UNITED STATES AND ITS POSSESSIONS 

Per acre 

Douglas fir $2400 

Virgin white pine 2250 

Hemlock-spruce (.\laska) 1800 

Cove (Appalachian Mts.) 1800 

Bottomlands 1800 

Redwood 1575 

Silver pine 135° 

Spruce, northern 1000 

Northern hardwoods 1000 

Slope (Appalachian Mts.) 1000 

Southern pine 1000 

Second growth white pine. 800 

Engelmann spruce 800 

Lodgepole pine 600 

Northern swamp 400 

Wet hardwoods 375 

Western yellow pine 315 

Sugar pine 315 

Ridge (Appalachian Mts.) 225 

Spruce-birch 200 

Dry hardwoods 75 

No discussion of sale values is complete without some reference 
to the future trend of prices. In this field of prophecy absolute 
accuracy is, of course, out of the question but an examination of 
the past history of wood prices should give a sound basis for pre- 



178 TIMBER VALUATION 

dieting the probable trend. On account of the lack of data for 
other products, attention will be wholly confined to lumber prices. 
Fig. 2 shows graphically the course of prices from i860 to 19 18 
in the United States. These were prepared in the main by 
Compton by computing the average prices of the important 
grades and species of lumber and weighting the various species. 
"Organization of the Lumber Industry," Wilson Compton, 1916. 
The figures for 1915 to 1918 were secured from the War Industries 
report on Prices of Lumber by R. C. Bryant. The following 
species are included: 

1860-1865 White pine, spruce, oak and hemlock. 

1865-1887 Southern pine added. 

1887-1896 Douglas fir and redwood added. 

1896-1910 North Carolina pine and cypress added. 

1910-1912 Maple added. 

1912-1914 Yellow poplar and western red cedar added. 

1914-1918 Eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, spruce, 
southern yellow pine, plain oak, Douglas fir, 
hard maple, gum, chestnut, birch, yellow pop- 
lar, ash and hickory. 

The base price, 100, is the average price for the 36 months, 
1901-1903. Relative prices are used rather than absolute prices 
to eHminate possible errors in quotations. In many cases it is 
difficult if not impossible to determine the exact sale value of any 
particular grade so that the trade journals from which the data for 
the curve has been obtained are Uable to make minor errors in 
this way. 

While the curve shows a general upward tendency there are 
many small depressions and two periods during which lumber 
went back to prices nearly as low as those obtained before the 
Civil War. The first of these, from 1875 to 1880, marked the 
opening up of the Lake States region. Prior to that the indus- 
tries of the country had depended mainly upon lumber cut in 
New England, New York, and Pennsylvania. But the depletion 
of these sources of supply was ofifset in large measure by the 
development of railroad transporation from the Lake States to 



SALE VALUES 



179 



the Atlantic seaboard. This made it possible to market cheaply 
the splendid white pine of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota 



248 




I8GO 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 

Fig. 13. The Cost of Living and Lumber Prices 1860-1920 

SO rapidly that the market was glutted. From the bottom of this 
depression in 1879 there was a gradual rise until 1883 as it became 
more and more apparent that the Lake States white pine was not 
inexhaustible. In fact the increasing cost of buying and logging 
led to the development of the southern pine region which in turn 



l8o TIMBER VALUATION 

flooded the market with lumber brought and logged so cheaply 
that it could compete successfully with that from the northeast 
and Lake States in spite of higher freight rates. Then the price 
went down again. Another low level was reached in 1896. The 
Spanish War in 1898 upset the usual course of prices somewhat 
but history bade fair to repeat itself as the northwest began to 
supplant the southeast as the principal lumber producing center. 
There was in fact a decided drop in lumber prices after 1907. 
This followed the tremendous expansion in the northwest and 
was largely the direct result of the attempt to market lumber too 
rapidly in order to meet carrying charges on mill equipment and 
stumpage. By 191 2 a slow recovery had been made followed by 
a depression which reached its lowest point in 19 14 when lumber 
prices were back at the 1905 level. 

The effect of the Great War was almost immediate. Prices 
commenced to advance even before the United States declared 
war against Germany in spite of the impossibility of shipping 
lumber abroad with the submarine campaign in full swing. The 
demand from American manufacturers busy with war orders was, 
however, sufficient to absorb all the lumber that was not needed 
for ordinary business. 

With the addition of the United States to the belligerents a 
new set of factors influenced lumber prices. It was immediately 
evident that the Government would need large supplies of lumber 
in the raw form for ships, warehouses, and cantonments and also 
indirectly for such manufactured articles as wagons, airplanes, 
gunstocks and boxes; hence, the necessity for centralized control 
of prices. This was effected by cooperation between the Govern- 
ment and the lumber industry and took the foUowing forms: 

1. Standardizing and centralizing. 

Government purchases. 

2. Price fixing. 

3. Restriction in use for non-essential purposes. 

4. Restrictions on imports and exports. 

Obviously the first thing to do where the Government was in the 
market for large amounts of lumber was to standardize the re- 



SALE VALUES l8l 

quirements of the different departments so that the utmost 
economy could be practiced in meeting their specifications. 
There was no reason, for example, why the War Department 
should have a difTerent requirement for ammunition box material 
from that enforced by the Navy. Furthermore, it was equally 
apparent that these and other Departments should be kept from 
bidding against each other. Great economies in money and time 
were effected in this way. 

But it was soon clear that the Govenment needs were so great 
that some control of prices was necessary. Thru a subcommittee 
of the Raw Materials Division of the Council of National Defense 
emergency bureaus were established in the principal lumber pro- 
ducing centers. Besides acting as a distributing agency in plac- 
ing government orders these bureaus aided materially in furnish- 
ing data upon which to fix reasonable prices. The aim was to set 
values which would ensure rapid and continuous production with- 
out disproportionate cost to the Government. To reach such a 
decision naturally entailed much research into actual costs of pro- 
duction and a thoro knowledge of marketing methods. 

The elimination of non-essential industries was accomplished 
in various ways. Appeals to the patriotism of both producer^ 
and consumers did much. Actual division of raw material was 
also an active force in curtailment. But by far the most effec- 
tive agency in securing this end was the drafting of employees 
from such industries while those in the so-called " essential indus- 
tries " were exempt from the draft. Restrictions on imports 
still further curtailed the supply of raw material for the manufac- 
tures that did not contribute directly to the winning of the War 
while demand for their products was restricted by refusing export 
licenses. But in spite of the large measure of cooperation be- 
tween the Government and the lumbermen who were patriotic 
it was necessary to markedly increase prices to keep up production 
to a satisfactory basis. Between 1914 and the signing of the 
Armistice average lumber prices rose approximately 90 per cent. 
The major portion of this rise took place during 1917 and 1918 
when the United States was a belUgerent. Lest, however, it 
should be assumed that this was a disproportionate rise it should 



i 



182 TIMBER VALUATION 

be remembered that most articles necessary to the prosecution 
of the War rose even more rapidly than lumber. Balson (Eco- 
nomics of the Lumber Industry, U. S. Department of Labor, 1919) 
found, for example, that more lumber could be bought with a 
dollar in 1919 than farm products as compared with 1914. Farm 
products advanced during the War so that a dollar would only 
buy 46 cents' worth while 58 cents' worth of lumber could be pur- 
chased for the same amount. 

In fact the slowness with which lumber advanced during the 
War was one of the reasons why there was an advance immedi- 
ately after the removal of war restrictions. Other factors which 
gave impetus to this upward tendency were subnormal supplies 
of logs, no surplus of lumber at the mills, short stocks of lumber 
in the retail yards, and inability of the railroads to handle ship- 
ments rapidly with depreciated rolHng stock and inefficient labor. 
Although the country had responded nobly to all war demands 
it must be remembered that all efforts had been concentrated on 
the production of war material. Other supplies were neglected. 
Repairs on buildings were postponed. Every energy was directed 
with feverish intensity toward the German overthrow. The 
reaction after the Armistice was sudden and complete. It was 
only slowly that the routine of peace was resumed. But lum- 
ber was in great demand almost immediately to meet the need for 
accumulated repairs and to make up for the home building which 
had been abandoned during the War. This demand found all 
departments of the lumber business short on raw material with 
employees loathe to turn at once from fighting Germans to felHng 
trees. Added to our own needs were those of our Allies. France 
and Belgium were in especial need of lumber for reconstruction 
and drew on us for hardwoods in large quantities. The price 
of oak and ash jumped at once, with other hardwoods follomng 
sympathetically. To show the exact effect of this in a few con- 
crete cases take oak, ash and maple in the Boston wholesale mar- 
ket. Below are given the prices per M at the end of 1915, 1918, 
and 1919 with the rise in per cent for each year after 1915: 



SALE VALUES 



183 



191S 
1918 

1919 



Plain white oak 



S60 

80-33 i% 
160-166% 



Maple 



$40 

7^ 75% 
116-190% 



Ash 



S55 
ilS-109% 
150-172% 



There has not been, however, any such marked advance in the 
average price of lumber. The hardwoods make up only about 
25 per cent of the total lumber cut. The advance in softwoods 
has been much less on the whole. Spruce frames, one of the 
most used grades of eastern lumber, increased 116 per cent. To 
get a true notion of how this compares with other prices it should 
be compared with advances of 92 per cent in food and 135 per 
cent in clothing (National Industrial Conference Board Report, 
1920). 

To sum up the situation at the beginning of 1920, lumber was 
in great demand with stocks low, labor in the woods and saw- 
mills subnormal and distribution hampered by railroad deprecia- 
tion. What are the prospects in the future? The factors that 
tend to keep prices up are as follows : 

Low stocks at the mills and retail yards. 

Shortage of dwelHng houses. 

Accumulated repair work. 

Depreciated rolling stock and lowered efficiency of railways 

which prevent normal delivery. 
Demand from Europe for reconstruction material. 
Diminishing supply of accessible stumpage. 
General inflation of currency. 
Low productivity of labor. 

Over against these influences are such depressing factors as: 

Increasing substitution. 

Decrease of exports on account of unfavorable exchange 
rates and rehabiHtation of lumber business in Russia and 
Austria. 

Development of waterways to relieve the strain on the rail- 
roads. 



1 84 TIMBER VALUATION 

Economic pressure on timberland holders to meet carrying 

charges by cutting even at a low profit. 
Increased productivity of labor. 
Deflation of currency. 

Striking a balance between these two sets of factors is difficult. 
It involves forecasting the probable course of prices after the 
greatest war in history with the world facing a timber famine 
due to overcutting in the past. Stumpage prices seem bound to 
go up. The cost of production in Europe is $io to $15 per M 
for softwoods and $20 to $30 for hardwoods. These seem to be 
what the United States will have to come to. The softwood 
stumpage prices have already been attained in the northeast. 
Lumber prices are a different problem. They need not neces- 
sarily go up along with stumpage prices. In fact European pre- 
war prices would indicate that increased efficiency of manufac- 
ture and distribution may keep them from going much higher 
than they are now. Certainly there is every prospect of a tem- 
porary falling off when the peak of general commodity prices is 
reached. Eut on the other hand the times are apparently past 
when softwood lumber of even medium grade can be purchased 
for less than $50 per M or clear hardwood for less than $100. 

Logging Costs for Lumber. — The difficult and complex sub- 
ject of logging and milling costs must necessarily be considered 
briefly, at least, because a knowledge of stumpage prices is a 
prime essential in determining timber values. Stumpage prices 
in turn are dependent upon the difference between sale values and 
costs. Needless to say the subject is so complex that a full dis- 
cussion of the various phases must be left to such special treatises 
as Bryant's " Logging." What is needed here is merely a bird's- 
eye view and a comparative notion of costs under different topo- 
graphic and forest type conditions. 

Since lumber is the most important single product of the forest 
its manufacture will be considered in detail. For other products 
like cordwood, tanbark, poles, etc., it will be sufficient to merely 
point out the ways in which their handling differs from that of 
lumber. 



LOGGING COSTS FOR LUMBER 185 

Briefly, then, all lumber goes thru the following lour steps in 
passing from tree form to tlnished board: 

1. Felling and bucking. 

2. Skidding. 

^ 3. Hauling or driving. 

4. ]\Iilling, including seasoning. 

In some operations numbers two and three are combined as, 
for example, in the New England portable sawmill type of logging 
but these four steps are in general typical of the average logging 
operation the country over. 

Felling and bucking are commonly considered together because 
it is usual to have the same crew do both, tho here, again, usage 
varies in the different parts of the country. The simplest form 
is a two-man crew who notch, fell, buck, bump, and pile brush all 
as one operation and their methods will exemplify the principles. 
The first step in felUng a tree is notching it so that it will fall 
where it will do the least damage to itself and the young timber to 
be left standing. Since this is an operation which demands con- 
siderable skill and judgment it is usually done by the more 
experienced member of the crew. It is not, however, a task which 
takes much time. Ordinarily 10 to 15 per cent of the total time 
per M is used. The actual sawing off from the stump after the 
tree has been notched with an axe takes double the time. But 
what determines the cost per M more than any other item is the 
time required to saw the felled tree into logs or " bucking." This 
usually requires one-half to two-thirds of the time and explains 
why the cost of felling and bucking varies directly with the size 
of the timber. In other words, the larger the trees the less the 
cost per M. To illustrate this by examples at the two extremes, 
the cost of this step on the Pacific Coast in the heavy stands of 
redwood and Douglas fir has been 50 cents per M while in the 
second growth stands of New England the usual contract price was 
$1.50 per M before the War. Expressed in man hours the costs 
are one and one-half and three man hours per M respectively, or 
expressed in another way, two men in the Douglas fir region will 
fell and buck 10 M in a day as against four to five M in the north- 
east 



l86 TIMBER VALUATION 

Brush disposal! so as to reduce the fire hazard and prevent 
smothering volunteer young growth is not a universal practice 
but it requires in softwoods not more than 20 per cent of the total 
time. 

There is a vast deal of difference between the cost of felling 
hardwoods and softwoods. The latter cut very much more 
rapidly. Hardwoods may, in fact, require three times as long 
in small logs. Ashe states (Cost of Logging Large and Small 
Timber, Forestry Quarterly, XIV-3) that " the cost of felling oak, 
with which are included birch, beech, maple, and other species of 
heavy wood, is shown to be about 20 per cent greater than the 
cost of felling the lighter and softer woods such as white pine, 
yellow pine, poplar and basswood." This refers to relatively 
large timber. 

Applying the facts brought out here to forest types they fall 
into several groups. In the first are the large softwoods like: 

Redwood and sequoia. 
Sugar pine. 
Douglas fir. 
Western red cedar. 

With these tne cost of felling and bucking has always been less 
than $1 per M, i.e., the daily output for two men would exceed 
8M or in man hours the cost per M ranges from one and one-half 
to two. The second group includes the medium sized softwoods 
such as are found in the : 

Silver pine type. 
Western yellow pine type. 
Hemlock spruce type. 
Yellow poplar cove. 
Cypress bottoms. 

In these stands the costs have ranged from $1 to $1.25 per M or 
two to three man hours per M. This would reduce the daily 
output for a two man crew to an average of eight M. 



LOGGING COSTS FOR LUMBER 187 

The small softwoods, like 

Eastern spruce, 

Engelmann spruce, 

Lodgepole pine, 

Alaskan spruce, 

White cedar, 

Second growth white pine, 

require so much bucking to get a M feet of logs that the average 
cost has been $1 .50 per AI or three to four man hours per M giving 
an output of about five M per day. The hardwoods — north 
and south — make up the last group with costs ranging before 
the War from Si. 50 to $2.50 depending upon the size of the trees. 
This means that two men can only cut three to four M per day 
and that the cost in man hours is not less than five. 

The operation of gathering together the felled and sawn logs 
so that they may be economically transported to the sawmill is 
variously known as skidding or yarding. In northern New 
England " yarding " includes felling and bucking as well as skid- 
ding. " Skooting " is the term applied to this operation in the 
northeastern portable sawmill region but it is combined with the 
next step, hauling, for the reason that the stands are so heavy 
and the distances to the mill so short that it does not pay to 
bunch the logs before hauling them. 

Various methods of skidding are employed. The simplest is 
with a single horse. One end of the log is made fast to and the 
horse simply pulls it out to the yard or skidway where a pile is 
built up in such a way that the logs can be rolled onto the wagon 
or sled handily. Large logs require two or more horses. In the 
early days before the advent of steam skidders several pairs of 
oxen were required to haul the large logs of the northwest, but 
this method was quickly replaced by steam when the power 
skidder evolved to the point of practicable operation. Now it is 
used in all operations where the logs are large and the stands 
heavy. Naturally, however, it requires a large initial invest- 
ment and cannot be applied except where the stands are dense 
enough per acre to justify such an expenditure. 



l88 TIMBER VALUATION 

The main factor in determining the cost of skidding is the 
distance skidded. This in turn depends upon the stand per acre 
because it is naturally easier to get a reasonable sized pile where 
the stand is heavy than where the stand is thin and the logs have 
to be hauled long distances. Second in importance to the time 
required to skid the log is the time taken on the return trip. This 
may exceed the time consumed on the way to the skidway when 
logs are hauled off a steep hillside where the horses have to toil 
slowly back up again. Fastening onto the log and unfastening 
are items of minor importance. 

Since then the factors which determine the cost of skidding are 
primarily the time consumed going and coming the lowest costs 
must be where these times make up the smallest per cent of the 
total time. Heavy stands of large logs are the first prerequisite 
and fast motive power the second. Consequently the types in 
which the lowest cost of skidding is found are the dense stands of 
conifers — redwood, Douglas fir, western red cedar — in the 
Pacific northwest and the C3^ress of the southern bottomlands 
where steam skidders are used. Costs have run in such stands 
from 50 cents to $2 per M. 

With the other softwoods $2 per M has been the standard 
price. Even variation in the number of logs per M and different 
methods, bare ground, bobsleds, skoots, or big wheels, have pro- 
duced little deviation. 

Hardwoods on the other hand cost considerably more. They 
are heavier and more crooked. Costs have ranged from $2.50 to 
$3.50 per M. 

Summarizing skidding costs, the forest types fall into three 
main groups as follows: 

I. Costs ranging from 50 cents to $2 per M or about three man 
hours per M plus interest and depreciation charges on the 
machinery. 

Steam skidders used. Large logs. Soft, light woods. 
Redwood. 
Douglas fir. 
Western red cedar. 
Sugar pine. 



LOGGING COSTS FOR LUMBER 189 

Cypress. 

Southern pine (to some extent). 

Hemlock-spruce. 

II. Costs ranging from $1.50 to $2.50 per M or three to four 
man hours and four to five horse hours per M. 

Various methods employed. Medium sized logs. Soft, light 
woods. 

Southern pine. 

Virgin white pine. 

Western yellow pine. 

Silver pine. 

YeUow poplar cove. 

Hemlock. 

Eastern and western spruce. 

Lodgepole pine. 

Second growth white pine. 

III. Costs ranging from $2.50 to $3.50 per M or four and one- 
half to five man hours and six horse hours per M. 

Various methods employed. Hard, heavy woods. 
Northern hardwoods. 
Southern hardwoods. 
Tropical hardwoods. 

The third step in the typical lumbering operation, hauling, is 
similar in principle to skidding. The time going and coming is 
what determines the cost. But naturally, since distances rang- 
ing from I mile to 20 are involved greater care is taken to pro- 
vide an easy running conveyance and a smooth hauling surface. 

The simplest and cheapest method of log transport is driving. 
Starting from the mere rolling of logs into a deep channel it has 
developed into a highly specialized business with elaborate sets of 
reservoirs, splash dams, channel improvements, bank reinforce- 
ments, miles of booms and various ways of rafting across still 
water. Comparatively small streams are now successfully 
driven. A standard figure in the northeast where the conditions 
have been very favorable for the development of this method has 
long been a cent a mile per M board feet. With such a low charge 



igo TIMBER VALUATION 

no other method can compete. Unfortunately, however, driving 
cannot be employed everywhere. It is first of all necessary that 
the timber to be taken out will float readily. This most hard- 
woods will not do and even some softwoods need special treat- 
ment. Then, too, many sections of the United States do not 
have suitable chmatic conditions. The rainfall is either inade- 
quate or improperly distributed. Consequently, this cheap and 
effective method is frequently impossible. 

Under such circumstances railroad logging offers the most 
effective substitute. In the redwoods the cost per M has usually 
been estimated as five cents per mile. Naturally such a cheap 
method is the first choice with all kinds of hardwood and where 
the climate and topography are unfavorable to driving. But the 
initial investment per mile is always heavy and is not justified 
unless the stands are heavy per acre or the railroad can ultimately 
be converted into a common carrier. As a result there are many 
woods operations where the use of railroads is out of the question. 
These fall into four main groups: 

1 . Operations where sleds can be used 

2. Operations where wagons must be used. 

3. Operations where chutes must be used. 

4. Operations where flumes are most economical. 

Snow is the best road material in the world and where several 
months of good sledding are assured that is by all odds the best 
method to employ. Thirty-five cents per M and mile have been 
attained in many cases. Like driving, sledding has evolved from 
simple beginnings to elaborate processes for icing and keeping 
clean the roadbed. There are, however, many sections of the 
country where the snowfall is not great enough to permit of the 
use of sleds. Wagons are then the only recourse. The motive 
power may be either oxen, mules, horses or tractors and the 
wagons either low wheeled or high. But whatever the appli- 
ances used this is a relatively expensive method. Seldom can 
it be done for less than $1 per M per mile. The remaining two 
methods, chutes and flumes, are special ones only applicable in 
special cases. Chutes are often the only recourse in steep, rocky 
country while flumes require a large supply of water. No general 



LOGGING COSTS FOR LUMBER 191 

figures can be given for the cost of these last two methods since 
each case presents a separate problem. 

The forest types cannot be grouped definitely by methods of 
hauling because two or more methods are commonly used in 
each. The circumstances of the individual operation determine 
which is the most economical. However, the following summary 
of costs of transport from stump to mill may be useful as a general 
guide : 

I. Cost per M low — $2 per M or less before the War — three 
man hours and four horse hours per M — short haul to mill. 

Second growth white pine. 
Engelmann spruce. 

II. Steam yarding and railroad hauHng — heavy stands of 
large timber — long haul to mill — $5 per M in 19 14. Three to 
four man hours per M and large interest and depreciation charges 
on machinery. 

Douglas fir. 

Redwoods and sequoia. 
Western red cedar.' 
Sugar pine. 
Alaska coast. 

III. Short haul to drivable stream — $6 per M in 1914. Six 
man hours and not more than our horse hours per M 

Southern bottomlands. 
Alaska interior. 

IV. Animal skidding and hauling — long haul — 9 to 10 man 
hours and 10 to 20 horse hours per M. Seven to eight dollars per 
M in 1914. 

Lake States white pine. 
Silver pine. 
Southern pine. 
Western yellow pine. 
Northern spruce. 
Northern swamp. 
Lodgepole pine. 



192 TIMBER VALUATION 

V. Hardwoods. Long haul. At least lo man hours and 20 
horse hours per M. Ten to fifteen dollars per M. 

Northern hardwoods. 

Southern hardwoods. 

Tropical hardwoods. 
The cost of milling is determined directly by the number of 
operations carried on in the mill in question. A small portable 
mill which only does sawing used to charge from $2 to $3 per M 
depending upon the size and amount of timber to be sawn, i.e., 
the cost of sawing was three to four man hours per M plus fixed 
charges. This is the simplest case. Even the sticking of the 
lumber was contracted separately. In larger mills, however, the 
cost of milling or manufacture includes a large number of items. 
Even before the logs reach the saw boom charges have to be met 
in mills located on streams where the logs of a number of com- 
panies are passing. They are then hauled up the ladder into the 
mill and go to circular, gang, or band saws. Just beyond the saws 
stands a grader who marks the number of board feet and the 
quality on each board. Some boards go directly to the mill 
yard to be stacked while others are taken to the planer, dry kiln, 
or cut up for special purposes. Slabs go either to the engine room 
for fuel or are made into shingles or laths. Not every mill of 
even moderate size has all these supplemental processes. Hence 
the total sawmill charge varies with each individual case. For 
mills equipped with planers, kilns, and lath machines the charge 
is never less than $5 per M and may run up as high as $7. This 
means seven to eight man hours per M plus interest and depre- 
ciation charges on the mill equipment. These figures apply to 
softwoods only. Hardwoods always cost more, varying from 
150 to 200 per cent of the charges for softwood. 

Regionally the great variation in milling costs comes with the 
use of permanent or portable mills. The standard mill has been 
one which assumed at least a 20-year cut and was, therefore, 
equipped with all the supplemental machinery that economic 
conditions permitted. Commonly it had two or three different 
kinds of saws, a capacity of over 20M feet per day and might even 
build up enough of a population in its immediate vicinity to fur- 



LOGGING COSTS FOR LUMBER 193 

nish a market for the waste wood which would otherwise have to 
be burnt. Frequently, one or more wood using industries sprang 
up in the neighborhood and depended upon its by-products for 
their raw material. Such a mill is economical in its use of the 
logs brought to it but it must have a large body of good timber to 
draw upon. In the woods the utilization is usually low because 
only the better logs will repay transportation. Consequently it 
has frequently happened that only 30 per cent of the tree has been 
taken out for lumber. 

The portable mill is an attempt to meet conditions entirely 
opposite to those under which the large mill works most advan- 
tageous y. When a section has passed from the pioneer timber- 
mining stage into the farming era there still remain many bodies 
of timber which are too 'small for the large mill to handle. In- 
stead of hauling the logs to the mill, the mill goes to the timber. 
The good roads of a farming community make this possible. All 
the valuable timber is salvaged and yet only light, seasoned lum- 
ber is hauled out. The portable mill justifies itself by the saving 
in transportation charges alone. However, conditions do not 
warrant its use in many regions as yet. The farm woodlot is its 
field of greatest usefulness so that it is successfully employed in 
the following types in many instances: 

Northern spruce. 
Northern hardwoods. 
Second growth white pine. 
Southern pine (especially second growth). 
Southern hardwoods (cove, slope, and ridge). 
Likewise the scattered stands of the Rocky Mountains make it 
applicable in the following types: 
Engelmann spruce. 
Lodgepole pine. 
Western yellow pine. 
Fir-larch. 

The other types are almost universally logged to a large mill 
because they have extensive stands of timber which justify the 
development of means of log transportation. 



194 



TIMBER VALUATION 



Neither type of mill so far discussed fills the needs of a tract 
which is being handled on a " sustained yield " basis. The large 
mill demands logs and more logs. The larger the output, the less 
the depreciation charge per M. As a consequence this type of 
mill has always left in its wake denuded hillsides cut without any 
thought of regeneration. Future growth was sacrificed ruthlessly 
to present profits. The portable mill has Hkewise been an active 
agent of forest destruction. The desire to get enough to make a 
setup pay has frequently led to the cutting of immature timber 
and little attention has been paid to keeping the logged area in 
productive condition. Furthermore the portable mill is not well 
adapted to the manufacture of anything but low grade softwood 
lumber. The foundations are not stable enough to permit 
accurate sawing of hardwood nor is the circular saw economical 
with high grade softwood. And yet the circular saw with its big 
saw kerf has proven more satisfactory in the portable mill than 
the more thrifty band saw. 

When a tract is being handled as a permanent forest invest- 
ment no more than the growth should be cut so that the capacity 
of the mill must not determine the annual fellings. Furthermore, 
every tract has a variety of species demanding various methods 
of manufacture if they are to be put in the best form for sale. 
Consequently, the mill should have planers, edgers, lath 
machines, shingle machines, and perhaps a dry kiln. In other 
words, a versatile mill well within the growth capacity of the 
tract is needed, not a highly specialized one devoted to a high 
output of one kind of lumber. 

Cost of Logging and Manufacturing Other Products. — Rank- 
ing next in importance to lumber firewood [receives second con- 
sideration. From stump to stove it passes thru the following 
processes: 

Felling, splitting and cutting up into four or eight foot 
lengths. 

Seasoning. 

Hauling. 

Sawing up. 

Marketing. 



COST OF LOGGING 195 

The standard pile of firewood is four feet high, eight feet long 
and four feet wide. One man may work effectively in putting 
up wood in this way but two are better when there is much split- 
ting and sawing. The amount that can be done in a lo-hour 
day varies with the species, the size of the timber, and the skill 
of the workman. Softwood is roughly twice as easy to chop 
as hardwood. In other words the chopper who will put up two 
cords of softwood per day cannot average better than a cord of 
hardwood. The size of the timber is also an important factor. 
Either large or smaU stulT goes slowly The ideal size for chop- 
ping is a tree about eight inches in diameter breast-high. Assum- 
ing then that from one to three cords may be cut per day the cost 
per cord of putting up firewood in four foot piles with all the 
pieces over six inches at the top and split, ranges from $1 to $4. 

Ordinarily the wood is seasoned in the place where cut before 
hauling. The cost of this is so small that it is usually neglected. 
It simply amounts to the interest on the money tied up in the 
firewood for four to eight months. The shorter period will 
remove two-thirds of the moisture but eight months is required 
to thoroughly air dry hardwood. 

The cost of hauling varies directly with the weight of a cord of 
seasoned wood. This ranges from over tw^o tons for hickory to 
one ton for soft pine. Consequently the cost per cord has varied 
from 50 cents to $1 per cord per mile. 

Firewood may be marketed either in four foot lengths or sawn 
to 16 inches so that it will go into a stove and then retailed. 
Sawing into short lengths has cost from 50 cents to $1 although 
prices have advanced since 191 7. 

It is apparent from the foregoing discussion that the main 
factor in determining the price of firewood is the distance which 
it has to be hauled. The other operations have cost uniformly 
before the recent advance in prices about $3 per cord for soft- 
wood and $5 for hardwood. Consequently the maximum dis- 
tance w^hich wood could be economically hauled was fixed by the 
price per ton of its competitor, coal. With the latter retailing 
at $10 per ton both hardwood and softwood could be hauled about 
five miles with the ordinary types of conveyances. This is based 



196 TIMBER VALUATION 

on the assumption that hardwood has twice the fuel value of 
softwood and is equal in fuel value per cord to a ton of coal. To 
the objection that this is too favorable to wood it may be urged 
that wood is a more flexible fuel than coal and is therefore used 
more economically. 

Pulp wood, extract wood, and acid wood present the same 
problems as firewood and have the same costs. 

Poles, whether intended for telegraph, telephone, or mining 
purposes, represent one of the most economical ways of using 
timber because there are few steps in their manufacture. They 
are simply cut off at the stump and top and peeled and are ready 
for use. These operations seldom cost more than $3 per M so 
that the determining factor was the distance they had to be 
hauled. One dollar per M per mile has been an outside figure for 
the latter operation although recent advances in wages and 
horse hire have upset even such a conservative figure. 
Railway ties go through the following processes: 

Felling and bucking. 

Hewing or sawing. 

Hauling. 
The cost of these steps per tie varies with the size of the average 
tie. The standard for steam railway use has been a tie with an 
eight-inch face and eight feet long. Switch ties were even longer, 
usually 12 feet. Trolley railroad ties, on the other hand, are 
smaller, being satisfied with a five or six inch face. Hence the 
number of ties per M ranges all the way from 40 to 20 with an 
average of 30 for the standard railway tie. Hewing is the only 
new item and this has been done in most cases for less than $1 
per M. The distance hauled has, of course, varied a great deal 
but the margin between the sale value, $12 to $18 per M and 
all costs including stumpage has seldom permitted ties to be 
hauled by wagons more than eight miles. 

The cost of handling tanbark can best be expressed in values 
per M of timber felled because it is seldom advisable to cut hem- 
lock or chestnut oak bark for the tanning material alone. The 
usual method is to handle it as a by-product. Hence, the wood- 
land owner wants to know not how much bark an area will yield 



PROFIT 197 

but how much bark he will get from a certain amount of timber. 
This cannot, however, be stated with exactness, because it varies 
with the locality. In fact the factors which control it have not 
yet been worked out for all conditions. But the range is not 
great. From one and one-half to two M board feet are required 
to yield a cord of bark. 

The important factor m bark costs is, of course, the distance 
which it has to be hauled although this seldom amounts to as large 
a sum as the cost of peeling and drying. The latter is, however, 
a more or less fixed quantity in all parts of the country so that the 
factor which fixes the difference in value between the bark of 
different localities is after all the distance which it has to be 
hauled. 

Average bark costs have been as follows: 

Peeling and drying $2 . 00 per cord. 

(Four men will cut and peel five to eight cords 
per day.) 

Hauling o. 75 per cord. 

Loading o . 75 per cord. 

$3.50 per cord. 

Expressed in terms of board feet it took in 191 5 approximately 
$1.75 extra per M to take care of the bark. 

Posts are a relatively unimportant item as compared with the 
other products of the woods yet in the aggregate they total a 
billion board feet annually the country over. The cost of get- 
ting them is small per unit but large per M because of the small 
size of the units. Seldom do posts cost more than 20 cents to 
make and deliver but this amounts to approximately $20 per M. 

Profit. — Trade secrecy has been the main obstacle in reaching 
a general agreement as to what is a reasonable profit in a lumber- 
ing operation. Lumbermen have been loath to speak frankly of 
anything but their losses but even this has failed to allay the 
suspicion — often wholly unfounded — on the part of the general 
public that enormous and unearned fortunes were being made out 
of the business. Much of this misunderstanding has arisen from 
a failure to realize that the returns must be high in lumbering 
because the risks are great. Weather conditions cannot be con- 



198 TIMBER VALUATION 

trolled in the woods as they can under a factory roof. Labor is 
necessarily nomadic under the present system because the men 
cannot take their famihes into the woods with them. The pro- 
fessional lumberjack is notoriously a drifter. It is a common 
saying that a large operation needs three full sized crews, one 
working, one going out and another coming in. In other words, 
the difficulty of breaking in new men, common to most industries, 
is magnified and accentuated in lumbering. Then, too, capital- 
ists are commonly not so famiUar with the technique of the busi- 
ness as with that of the merchandising and manufacturing indus- 
tries so that they are less willing to finance logging operations. 
Added to their unfamiliarity with the methods of the business is 
the long period frequently required to reaHze on the investment. 
Where an expensive mill must first be erected and logging rail- 
roads built the capital cannot be retired for 10, 20 or more years. 
The combination of these factors makes the rate of return neces- 
sarily higher than it is in industries with a quicker turn over, 
better understood, more easily standardized and less hazardous. 
While a gross margin of 10 per cent is ample in the wholesale 
grocery business, or the manufacture of shoes, 25 per cent is 
none too much in many lumbering operations. 

What the rate should be for any particular operation depends 
upon several factors. The highest return is naturally demanded 
in the more hazardous operations like the opening up of a new 
region. An example of such an enterprise is the beginning which 
has just been made in the exploitation of Brazilian timber. 
Methods and markets must be developed and the operation has 
all the hazards of a pioneer enterprise and is accordingly entitled 
to a high return to offset the extra costs and unforseeable losses. 
On the other hand an operation in a region where the methods 
are standardized does not require so great a return. An example 
of this latter kind is a New England portable sawmill enterprise. 
Intermediate between these two extremes are the medium sized 
job in a region where logging is one of the principal industries and 
large enterprises which open up new blocks of timber in sections 
where markets are assured and the best methods have already 
been worked out. 



PROFIT 199 

Next to hazard the most important factor in determining the 
proper rate of return is the frequency of turnover. A chestnut 
acidwood operation in which wood may be converted into ready 
money as soon as cut and hauled does not, naturally, require a 
large return on the single job because the capital invested may 
be utilized again and again during the year. For example, if two 
months of cutting give a return of 3 per cent on the investment 
and five such operations are carried on during the year it is 
obvious that the annual return will be 15 per cent. On the other 
hand an enterprise which must have its logs come on a six months' 
drive and season its lumber another six months, must in justice 
receive higher return per unit of finished product whether that be 
cords or M feet board measure. 

Size is a factor likewise in determining a fair profit. A large 
amount of capital invested for a long period in an enterprise which 
is safeguarded by its own bulk does not need such a high return 
as a small enterprise which must fight its way at every step to 
keep its larger competitors from crowding it out. Hence the 
small jobs involving relatively few men and teams should pay a 
higher return per M than the large sawmill fed by its own logging 
railroad and controlling many thousands of acres of stumpage. 

While generalizations cannot be safely made without allowance 
or exceptional cases it may be said that the following rules will 
apply in most cases: 

1. Operations in regions where the methods are thoroughly 

standardized, as for example the New England portable 
sawmill region, are content with net profits of $1 to $2 
per M. 

2. Operations of medium size in less well settled regions 

demand average returns of 25 per cent per M on the 
capital invested. 

3. Large operations involving investment for 20 years or 

more are content with a return of 10 per cent on the 
total investment. 

4. Pioneer enterprises, whatever their size, should have a 

return of 25 per cent per M on the investment. 



200 TIMBER VALUATION 

Exactly what constitutes the investment per M is sometimes 
difficult to determine. Small operations present no special 
difficulty because the capital is small, consisting of relatively few- 
tools, a team or two, wagons or sleds, and the amount necessary 
to carry the payroll, interest charges, taxes, and insurance. The 
sum of these items divided by the number of M feet to be logged 
gives the investment per M. Furthermore, the contract prices 
being paid in the region for the different steps from the stump to 
the stick furnish the best kind of a check since they are the com- 
bined judgment of the community as to what must be invested 
per M to get the desired results. Much more difficult to deter- 
mine accurately is the proper charge in large and complicated 
enterprises. However, the following Ust of items which may 
enter into this total may be useful in checking over to make sure 
that nothing has been overlooked : 

1. Permanent improvements or durable equipment Hke a 

railway or sawmill to be used over a long period. The 
charge per M is determined by dividing the total for these 
items by the whole amount of timber to be manufactured 
with them. 

2. Operating costs such as wages, food supplies, destructible 

tools, interest on operating capital, taxes, overhead 
costs, etc. These are usually totaled annually and di- 
vided by the cut for that period. 

3. Maintenance charges such as depreciation costs, amortiza- 

tion payments, insurance, etc. These may be most con- 
veniently calculated on an annual basis. 
Freight Charges. — Absolutely and relatively freight charges 
are the most important single item in wood product costs. For 
example in lumber retail prices the various steps are divided as 
follows on the average: 

Percent 

Logging 25 

Milling '20 

Freight 27 

Wholesaling 3 

Retailing 25 

100 



FREIGHT CHARGES 



20I 



For the northwest the ratio of freight costs is even greater. 
For example in the case of Oregon or Washington Douglas fir 
35 to 40 per cent of the retail cost goes for freight costs. Even 
in the southeast the charge to the large markets represents 15 to 
25 per cent of the total cost. 

In Butler's report on " The Distribution of Softwood Lumber 
in the Middle West," he gives the following freight charges per 
M and per 100 lb. using pre-war rates: 





PerM 


Per 100 lb. 


Portland to Chicago 

Westwood, California to Chicago 


$13-75 

12.50 

9.88 

6.12 

3.20 


Cents 

55 
60 


CcEur d'Alene, Idaho to Chicago 


52 

245 


Bogalusa, Louisiana to Chicago 


Bemidji, Minnesota to Chicago 


16 







Briefly summed up, it may be said to cost less than $5 to get 
northeastern lumber onto the general markets, between $5 and 
$10 for freight from the southeast, and $10 and $15 per M from 
the Rocky Mountain and Pacific coast regions. 

The Interstate Commerce Commision Report for 191 8 gives 
the annual freight bill paid by the lumber and forest products 
producers of the United States as $215,000,000. Of the total 
railway tonnage they constitute 1 1 per cent, being exceeded only 
by mineral products and general manufactures. As compared 
with lumber soft coal yields 34 per cent less revenue per ton mile, 
hard coal 13 per cent less, and grain 9 per cent less. Dressed 
meat and cotton pay 26 per cent and 60 per cent more per ton 
mile, respectively. 

Freight rates are of various kinds. The following need defini- 
tion before the general subject can be discussed further: 

(i) Commodity rate — a freight charge levied against all 
articles of the same kind. For example the rate for lumber for a 
60-mile haul on the Boston & Maine Railway is $2.85 per M while 
logs take a different commodity rate and cost $3.95 per M even 
for softwoods. With forest products three commodity classes 
are usually made: *' (i) rough products such as logs, bolts, or 



202 TIMBER VALUATION 

flitches; (2) lumber or other partially finished articles, not yet 
worked into a final manufactured product; (3) finished articles 
like boxes, barrels, doors or blinds; and (4) ' woods of value ' 
such as walnut and mahogany." 

(2) Local rates are rates which apply between stations on the 
same railway system, usually within a state. 

(3) Thru or joint rates, on the other hand, apply to shipments 
made for long distances, commonly over two or more railways. 

(4) Combination rates are rates which are the sum of two or 
more local rates with or without reduction. 

(5) Basing rates are the sum of a thru rate 10 a terminus like 
New York and a local rate to the point of destination. For 
example, the all rail rate from Chicago to Bridgeport, Conn., 
would be the thru rate from Chicago to New York plus the local 
rate between New York and Bridgeport. 

(6) Manufacture-in-transit rates permit the conversion of logs 
into rough or dressed lumber en route. For example, a lumber 
concern may ship its logs to the mill where they are sawn and 
planed and then re-ship the lumber, all on the same rates. Such 
rates are really combination commodity rates with special privi- 
leges in regard to the use of the freight cars employed. 

In any consideration of the subject of forest product freight 
charges it must be constantly borne in mind that these industries 
have seldom received any special consideration on the part of the 
railroads. The freight agent has tried to make his charges " as 
high as the traffic would stand." Consequently higher rates are 
applied to the more valuable classes and grades whenever they 
can be easily distinguished. This is usually taken care of by the 
commodity classification already discussed. For example, cabi- 
net woods pay more than ordinary softwood lumber. There is, 
however, one apparent exception to this general rule. Dressed 
lumber commonly pays no higher - rate than rough lumber, 
although there may be a difference of $50 per M in the sale value 
of the two. But the reason for this is not far to seek. It is 
simply a matter of convenience. The cost of inspection on the 
part of the railroad would be excessive, it is feared, were the freight 
rates varied with the grades. As a result seasoned and dressed 



FREIGHT CHARGES 203 

lumber pays much higher returns than unseasoned rough lum- 
ber because it is lighter in weight, less bulky for the same quan- 
tity and has a wider margin for profit. To show how this works 
out take the case of the sawmills in Oregon and Washington. 
With a $15 per M freight charge to meet they can only afford to 
ship east their best grades. There is no margin for profit on 
common and boxboard lumber. And the same holds true in 
greater or less degree for all the centers of forest production. 
Freight rates encourage skimming off the cream only. 

Foreign freight rates per ton mile are higher as a rule than ours 
for all commodities. For example, our average rate per ton mile 
in 19 1 4 was approximately 8 to 10 cents while in the United 
Kingdom the rate was nearly three times this in 1913. Den- 
mark's rates were even higher. Russia and Japan were the only 
countries that had average rates at all approaching ours. Forest 
product rates furnished no exception to this general rule. As 
against an average rate of 3 to 10 cents per ton mile for transcon- 
tinental lumber shipments the lowest rate that Dr. Schenck cites 
in his discussion of freight rates is 4 to 10 cents per ton mile and 
this was a special rate from Austria to Germany and France 
intended to offset the import duties levied by the latter against 
Austrian lumber. But there is one marked difference between 
European and American practice. The former makes a differ- 
ence between grades of lumber. For example, the rate for dis- 
tances over 220 miles is double for lumber what it is for pulp- 
wood, firewood, mine props and railway ties. From the stand- 
point of forest production this is a very valuable arrangement 
since it places no premium on the marketing of the higher grades 
but gives the poorer grades a fair chance to reach the general 
market. What such a change would mean to the American for- 
ests can be quickly shown by two examples. In the northern 
hard wood type the principal silvicultural problem is the removal 
of the mature hardwoods in order to give the more profitable 
spruce, fir and pine a better chance. At the present time only 
the very best parts of the hardwood trees are reaching the saw- 
mills. By lower rates on the poorer grades of hardwood lumber 
and especially on cordwood the woods in, this type could in many 



204 TIMBER VALUATION 

instances be put in good silvicultural condition. A still more 
striking illustration is furnished by the freight rates on north- 
western lumber. Since no difference is made in the rates on clear 
and common lumber, the profits are much greater on the former 
and only the good butt logs are taken out of the woods. The 
second grade logs rot in the woods and the slabs are burnt at con- 
desirable expense. 

Stumpage Prices. — Using the formula that stumpage prices 
should equal the difference between the average sale value of the 
various grades obtainable from a stand of timber and the sum of 
all the costs of logging, manufacture and transportation including 
a fair profit, the determination of stumpage prices would appear 
simply a matter of mathematical calculation. There is, however, 
still another factor that needs to be considered. This is the lag 
^ of stumpage prices behind fluctuations in lumber prices. The 
main reason for this is that standing timber is not at present an 
easily negotiable commodity. Forest conservation has not as 
yet reached the point where timberland is considered as first class 
security. Fires, insects, fungi, uncertain labor conditions and 
inclement weather must be circumvented before stumpage can 
be converted into ready cash. Consequently, when lumber 
advances there is no immediate rise in stumpage prices because a 
standing tree has to go thru many processes before it yields boards. 
Furthermore, the cost of these processes may have increased 
to the point where any advance in the price of the finished prod- 
uct is absorbed long before the stumpa-ge price is reached. For 
example, a 40 per cent increase in lumber prices has no prospect 
of effecting a similar rise in stumpage figures when there is a 100 
per cent increase in the cost of food and wages. This condition 
V actually prevailed during the Great War. 

How much difference there should be between the rate of 
change in lumber prices and the rate of increase or decrease in 
stumpage cannot, of course, be definitely stated. It depends 
upon various factors which differ with the locality and season. 
In general, however, it may be taken as a safe rule that the 
stumpage price determined by formula needs discount by an 
amount sufficient to allow for probable changes in costs. The 



STUMPAGE PRICES 



205 



future trend of costs must be considered because no one is going 
to make changes in stumpage prices for passing fluctuations in 
costs. For example, a temporary increase in the price of corn 
need not aflfect disadvantageously the price of pine stumpage 
even tho corn is fed to both men and mules. There is a good 
chance that by the time the lumber is ready for market the 
price of corn may have changed again, and for the better. Yet, 
on the other hand, the logger and sawmill man must be on the 
lookout for possible increases in costs so that they do not pay so 
much for their logs that their margin is entirely wiped out by an 
advance in food or labor. 

Of the factors that determine stumpage prices the costs of 
hauling the logs and the lumber are the most important. The 
other factors only vary within narrow limits. As a consequence 
the stumpage price of any piece of timber is dependent primarily 
upon its distance from a sawmill and the length of freight haul 
from the mill to a market. To illustrate take two such unlike 
softwoods as second growth white pine and redwood. Of course, 
the latter yields very much better grades than second growth 
white pine because the pine has seldom been allowed to grow more 
than 100 years while five times that would be nearer the average 
age of the redwood which is now being cut. In fact second growth 
pine yields no wide clear lumber. The percentages of the grades 
obtained from each would be about as follows: 



Wide clear lumber 

Shop 

Common 

Boxboards 




Second growth 
pine 



Per cent 



s 

10 
8s 



Nevertheless the average sale value for both at the mill has been 
about $30 per M for the log run, with redwood averaging not more 
than 20 per cent higher than the pine. In the same way the log- 
ging costs did not vary greatly. Before the war $5 per M would 
have covered all costs from stump to mill pond in either case. 



2o6 TIMBER VALUATION 

Milling has been slightly higher in the case of redwood because 
some of it was planed but $io was a safe figure for the total cost 
of the finished lumber in California or New England. Conse- 
quently there would remain a margin of $20 — sale value of $30 
less costs of $10 — to cover freight charges and stumpage price. 
In the case of redwood even pre-war charges took fully three- 
quarters of this margin of $20 while one-quarter was ample to 
cover all freight costs in the case of second growth pine. Hence, 
the stumpage price of redwood has never been over $5 per M while 
that of second growth white pine has already gone over $10 per 
M in the case of accessible tracts. 

The general rule that sale values, logging costs and manu- 
facturing costs are relatively constant and that freight charges 
fix stumpage holds for hardwoods as well as softwoods with a 
few rare exceptions. These deviations from the rule are the 
rarer cabinet woods like walnut, mahogany, etc., in which the 
sale value is far above that of ordinary lumber. But even with 
these the stumpage price of different stands of the same species 
is fixed by the distance from mill to market. For example, wal- 
nut near a furniture or gun factory in Ohio is worth two or three 
times what the same or better quality of tree is valued at in the 
mountains in Kentucky. 

Since then the general rule holds that stumpage prices depend 
upon distance from market it follows that they must be approxi- 
mately the same within a given region tributary to any one mar- 
ket. Markets may be either local, special or general. The first 
are the best in all cases because they reduce freight charges to a 
minimum but unfortunately no local market is unlimited. Most 
are, in fact, of small capacity in power to absorb such a common 
product as lumber. The same appHes to special markets. They 
can only take particular grades and those in limited quantities. 
Hence it follows that the general markets are the great price 
. fixers in the forest product industries. Indirectly they also deter- 
mine sale values in the local and special markets because no local 
price can exceed for any length of time the general market level 
plus the freight charges from the general market to the locality in 
question. 



STUMPAGE PRICES 207 

The great general lumber markets of the United States are 
simply distributing points into which the mill men ship their 
lumber and from which the wood users purchase. This means 
that they are located at the termini of water routes and the sup- 
ply points for manufacturing and agricultural centers. Every 
city of any size answers one or both of these qualifications in some 
measure but the following are preeminent as lumber markets: 

Boston — the commercial center of New England. 

New York — a great supply point for all sorts of native 

lumber and also the largest importer of tropical hardwoods. 
Baltimore — by reason of its advantageous tidewater loca- 
tion an important distributing point for pine from the 

south Atlantic states. 
Norfolk — a good harbor makes this city the natural export 

center for Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. 
Buffalo and North Tonawanda — ■ at the eastern end of the 

Great Lakes and hence the natural eastern market place 

for lumber from the Great Lakes region and the upper 

Mississippi valley. 
Chicago — the distributing point for the north central 

states. 
Minnesota Transfer — the transfer point for western lumber 

coming east, especially that from the northwest. 
Cincinnati — an important distributing center for southern 

hardwoods. 
St. Louis — important in the southern pine and hardwood 

trade because of its location on the Mississippi River. 
New Orleans — used both as a market for southern pine and 

cypress from Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana and an 

exporting port. 
San Francisco — the export center for redwood and sugar 

pine. 
Portland, Oregon — a red cedar shingle center and shipping 

point for northwestern lumber in general. 
Seattle — the principal port of export to the Far East of 

Douglas fir lumber and red cedar shingles. 



208 TIMBER VALUATION 

Spokane — the distributing center for the Inland Empire 
and the marketing point for silver pine, western larch and 
Douglas fir from northern Idaho and eastern Washington. 

Since then the timber with the shortest haul to market has the 
highest value it follows that the highest stumpage prices will be 
found in the eastern part of the United States where the bulk of 
the population lives and the major portion of the manufacturing 
is done. White pine, walnut and white ash have already reached 
stumpage prices of $15 per M board feet in New England, New 
York, Pennsylvania and the Lake States. From this maximum 
prices taper off to the vanishing point for the less desirable species 
in inaccessible localities. In the southeast yellow poplar, yellow 
pine, cypress, walnut, ash and oak have all risen in value to 
nearly $10 per M on accessible properties. The less valuable 
hardwoods, like black oak and tupelo gum for example, are, how- 
ever, still selling for less than $5 per M. In the Rocky Mountain 
region and on the Pacific coast stumpage prices are in general 
well below $5 per M even for the largest and most accessible tim- 
ber. In fact the only places where anything like this amount has 
been realized have been isolated communities in the semi-arid 
districts where the supply of standing timber was limited and long 
wagon hauls made importation out of the question. 

Stumpage prices are governed by distance from market almost 
irrespective of use value. In other words, no matter how fine 
timber may be it must be near to market to bring a good price 
standing. An extreme example of this is the case of the tropical 
hardwoods. Bringing fancy prices at the wholesale markets in 
the form of boards or even hewed logs the trees themselves are 
worth less than $1 per M. The cost of logging with native labor 
in a tropical climate and the long sea voyage absorb all the mar- 
gin which with more accessible species goes to the owner of 
stumpage. 

In order to determine what prices will be in the future it is 
necessary to know how they have acted in the past. Fig. 14 
brings together figures on past stumpage prices. Furthermore 
Sauerbeck's index figures are given in order to give a basis for 
comparing fluctuations in stumpage prices with the changes in 



STUMPAGE PRICES 209 

general commodity prices. The Prussian and Saxon figures are 
perhaps most interesting because they cover the longest period. 
For instance, during the period 1830 to 1875 Saxon wood values 
increased at the rate of 45 per cent compound interest annually. 
In Prussia, which has poorer markets, the rate of increase during 
the same period was 25 per cent. For the 70-year period from 
1830 to 1900 the rate of annual increase in Saxony was a trifle 
less than 3 per cent while Prussia maintained a rate of 2| per cent 
for this longer period too. Hence Doctor Fernow's statement 
that German stumpage prices have been increasing at the rate of 
2 per cent per annum, compound interest, for the last hundred 
years is amply conservative. Nor is the force of this vitiated by 
corresponding increases in the prices of other commodities. On 
the contrary general commodity prices decreased quite steadily 
from 1820 to 1895 with a few minor exceptions. Their rise during 
the Great War is, of course, due to special causes outside the usual 
laws of supply and demand. 

Our own experience substantiates European experience. 
White pine stumpage, for example, increased at the rate of 6^ 
per cent, compound interest, in Michigan from 1865 to 1905 and 
at the annual rate of 7I per cent in Minnesota from 1880 to 
1905. These increases are all the more remarkable in the face of 
a marked decrease in general commodity prices, from 1865-1895. 

Another point still more clearly brought out in the chart is 
that the rate of increase has not been uniform. There have been 
distinct ups and downs. For example, the effect of the Franco- 
Prussian War is clearly shown in both the Saxon and Prussian 
curve — a sharp rise followed by a drop and that in turn giving 
place to a slower recovery. In the same way 1907 marked the 
highwater mark for stumpage prices in the United States imtil the 
rise brought about by the Great War. In fact the period from 
1908 to 19 14 was one of distinct stagnation if not depression in 
American lumber circles. 

But in spite of occasional drops the general increase is so appar- 
ent that it may safely be laid down as a general law that the trend 
of stumpage prices has been upward the world over for the last 
hundred years in spite of the opening up of many new timber 



2IO TIMBER VALUATION 

regions. For example, the export of lumber from America to 
Europe in any considerable quantity has all occurred during this 
period and the center of production has moved from the north- 
eastern states to the southeastern pine region and is now about to 
jump across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific northwest. 

Substitution has also been a factor which might have affected 
seriously the demand for wood and been reflected in lower stump- 
age prices. The consumption of cement, for example, has in- 
creased from II milUon barrels in 1892 to 90 million barrels in 
1913 with a corresponding decrease in the cost per barrel. Coal 
and steel have hkewise taken the place of wood in many ways. 
Thelen estimated in 191 7 that " approximately 70 per cent of the 
present cut of lumber goes into forms of use whose demands 
appear to be decreasing." The plain fact is that substitution 
will undoubtedly go much farther. The crest of lumber pro- 
duction is undoubtedly behind us. There has been a steady 
decrease in the amount of lumber sawn since 1909. But the 
important point is not that we are using less wood but that we 
have been using it lavishly. Our consumption per capita was 
estimated in 1900 to be approximately six times that of Germany, 
seven times that of France and 16 times that of Great Britain. 
We have not only used wood " from the cradle to the coffin " but 
wallowed in it en route. 

This does not, however, mean that wood will in time be replaced 
either in whole or to any considerable extent. It has too many 
valuable qualities to be entirely superseded. It is light, strong, 
easily worked, durable, a non-conductor of heat and electricity 
and best of all relatively cheap even assuming that prices will 
reach throughout the world the level attained in the European 
countries which do not grow enough for their own use. As com- 
pared with a piece of iron of the same weight a stick of yellow pine 
is six times stronger and very much cheaper. So it is safe to 
assume that wood will always be in great demand for a very 
large number of uses. 

But its value in construction and manufacture is not the main 
reason for predicting advancing values for wood. The decreasing 
supply is the controlUng factor. This fact is one difficult for 



STUMPAGE PRICES 



211 



4 CENTS PER CUBIC FOOT 



^^' 



2 CENTS PER CUBIC FOOT 




$1.00 fER M FT. B.M, 




1820 



1840 



1900 



1860 1880 

Fig. 14 

Comparison of the cost of living and stumpage prices. 



1920 



212 TIMBER VALUATION 

most of us to realize. We may have seen one kind of lumber 
vanish from the market because it had been overcut but there 
have usually been competitors to take its place. For example, 
eastern white pine is very difficult to secure at the present time 
in large clear boards but western silver pine and sugar pine are 
essentially the same in quality and obtainable in large sizes. 
Cannot this substitution continue indefinitely? Prior to the 
Civil War the New England and Middle states were the principal 
producers of lumber. Then the ascendancy passed to the I.ake 
States without necessitating any great economic readjustment 
because the species were the same. It was simply a question 
of paying a greater freight charge. But by 1900 the southeast 
was cutting more than the Lake States and by 1909 nearly four 
times as much. This meant not only a longer haul for northern 
wood users but entirely different species. Hence, serious read- 
justments in machinery, methods, costs and selling prices were 
made necessary. Now the southern pine region is being forced 
into second place by diminishing supplies of standing timber and 
the Pacific northwest is forging ahead. By 1925, 3000 sawmills 
will have to shut down because there is no more southern yellow 
pine for them to cut. Had the War come 10 years later the 
lumber for cantonments, ships and airplanes would have had to 
be shipped almost entirely from the Pacific northwest. What 
this would have meant in delay and extra freight charges is 
almost incalculable. Furthermore, the supplies in California, 
Oregon, Washington and Alaska are not unhmited. The large 
merchantable timber is confined to a rather narrow belt along 
the coast where the influence of the moist winds from the 
Pacific is felt. Behind — to the east of — the Cascades and 
Sierras there is no good timber except on the scattered islands 
of mountains which reach up far enough out of the arid plain 
below to get some rainfall. The Rocky Mountain region has 
been sarcastically characterized as "fit only for prairie dogs, 
rattlesnakes and invalids." Certainly it has no timber to spare 
for export. In other words, the states of New Mexico, Colorado, 
Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and Nevada need all 
the timber they have for their own domestic development. This 



STUMPAGE PRICES 213 

also applies to southern California, and eastern Oregon and 
Washington. So it sums up to this: the supplies of virgin 
timber are virtually exhausted except for a limited area on the 
Pacific Coast making up less than 5 per cent of the total area 
of the United States. Nor does the fact that some of the biggest 
trees and the heaviest stands in the world are located here offset 
the fact that the end of the original supply of timber is in sight. 

What relief can be expected from other parts of the world? 
England has long since given up producing her own wood supplies 
but depends upon importing them. Why cannot we do likewise? 
This seems all the more plausible because the ordinary description 
of any new country, and of many that have a long history, makes 
much of " the inexhaustible forest resources." It will come then 
as something of a shock to most people to know that only 25 per 
cent of the earth's surface is capable of producing trees of saw- 
timber size. The rest is either too cold or too dry. Further- 
more the area of good softwood timber is still further restricted. 
Practically speaking, there is no good softwood out of the northern 
hemisphere. Siberia, Prussia, Scandinavia, Canada, and the 
United States are the only countries that even had large bodies 
of pine, spruce or fir. Tropical forests are primarily hardwood 
forests. The dipterocarps will only be used for the local softwood 
demand and they will have to make slow headway against the 
northern softwoods which now preempt the tropical markets. 
Consequently no help may be expected from Europe, Asia, 
Australia, Africa or South America. All these continents have, 
in fact, been drawing upon our suppHes in the past and would 
like to continue to do so. In other words, we know that the 
original world supply of wood will not last indefinitely. We must 
either use substitutes or grow more. Entire replacement is 
neither desirable nor necessary so that the cost of gro^ving it will 
soon determine throughout the world the value of the standing 
timber. 

What the cost of production will be is dependent upon a num- 
ber of factors. Most important of all is the length of time re- 
quired to produce material of any given size. Minimum and 
average figures are the only ones worth considering because they 



214 TIMBER VALUATION 

will determine in the main. It is conceivable that under 
untoward climatic conditions cordwood may require for its growth 
as long as high class sawtimber, but the places that can produce 
cordwood in a reasonable period are going to set the price. 
Accordingly the following figures will be used: 

Years 

Cordwood requires 25 

Boxboards require 50 

Dimension lumber requires 75 

Lumber for " cutting up" requires 100 

Wide, clear lumber requires 150 

To illustrate how these figures were derived take white pine as an 
illustration of a softwood and red oak for the hardwoods. For 
the periods given above their diameters breast-high are as 
follows: 



Red oak 



25 years 

50 years 

75 years 

100 years 

150 years 




Inches 

5 



IS 
20 



Next to the question of time required the problem of determin- 
ing the proper interest rate is the most vital. It is also the most 
complex and difficult to reach common ground on. Where most 
of the misunderstanding comes is in the varying conceptions of 
what constitutes " net income." The ordinary business man 
takes this as meaning what is left for him after he has paid his 
debts and frequently he forgets such untangible liabilities as 
interest on his investment, depreciation, overhead expenses, etc. 
Consequently he assumes, and rightly, that he must make from 
10 to 20 per cent per annum on his investment. But the busi- 
ness of growing wood differs radically from the ordinary business 
of small capital and quick turnover. The main item of expense 
is the interest on the capital tied up in the land, the expense of 
planting or regenerating naturally, and the annual cost of ad- 
ministration and protection. While none of these is large in 
itself the interest on them for a period of 50 to 100 years 



STUMPAGE PRICES 21$ 

amounts to a large sum. In other words forestry is one of the 
few businesses in which no proper idea of the real cost of doing 
business may be obtained unless due allowance is made for 
interest charges. In merchandising and manufacturing on the 
other hand the main items of expense are the cash outlays for 
material and labor and interest charges play a relatively unim- 
portant role. Interest is, in fact, a comparatively modern in- 
vention. Certainly the business man of loo years ago worried 
little about interest, overhead charges, and depreciation. For- 
estry, a very new form of enterprise, is ultra modern in this 
respect. Consequently it must know what the net return will 
be after deducting all interest and charges for depreciation and 
other forms of overhead expense. The only kinds of business 
which are at all comparable are long time, conservative invest- 
ments sought by those who wish a steady, sure income over a 
long period without the risk and bother of shifting their funds. 
The rents from an office building are an excellent illustration. 
Built to last for 50 to 100 years without radical alteration the 
main items of expense are the interest on the original cost of 
construction, the constant repairs to prevent depreciation, 
yearly taxes, annual insurance, premiums and administrative 
costs. Such a building gives a net return, when all these items 
of cost have been deducted, of not more than 3 or 4 per cent 
for long periods. In other words the capital is as safe and en- 
titled to the same rate of return as funds invested in a savings 
bank. Government bonds are, perhaps, an even better illustra- 
tion of what net income actually is. The recent Liberty Loans 
were floated at 3 per cent or more and at periods could be bought 
at enough below par to make the interest rate as high as 4 or 5 per 
cent. But no one expects them to remain at par. The Civil 
War loans did not and there is every reason to predict that both 
the Victory Loan and the three Liberty Loans Avill soon be 
seUing for enough above par to bring their net return down to 
2 or 3 per cent. And this will be a true net return barring per- 
haps the cost of the safe deposit box in which they are kept. 
They are not subject to taxes, they do not depreciate, or need 
repairs or insurance. 



2l6 TIMBER VALUATION 

This then is the sort of income which is meant when net returns 
from forest land are referred to. All costs are included and 
interest figured on them from the time the trees are an inch high 
to their maturity. Furthermore, due allowance is made for pos- 
sible loss from fire, insects, and fungi, and such items as are 
covered by insurance and depreciation charges, in the case of 
an office building. It seems reasonable, therefore, to use a low 
interest rate and 3 per cent has been chosen for the calculations 
given below. 

The cost of the land has been set at $10 per acre. Only such 
soils should be devoted to tree crops as are unfit for tillage. This 
means steep, rocky or sandy land not good enough to plow. 
Hence a low figure is justifiable. Even in England with its ready 
markets and dense population the Forestry Sub-committee of 
the Reconstruction Committee estimated in 1918 that land could 
be bought for reforestation purposes for an average of $15 per 
acre. 

For securing regeneration, whether natural or artificial, the 
cost is estimated at $10 per acre. This is somewhat low for 
planting on steep sites hable to wash, but high for natural 
regeneration. As an average it compares very favorably with 
the English estimate of $17 per acre " for planting, fencing, drain- 
ing, beating up, etc.," where no natural regeneration could be 
expected. 

This same report gives figures for the annual cost of protection 
and administration which are useful as a guide. For $1.50 per 
acre per annum it is expected that the protective and administra- 
tive ofiicers may be paid and the necessary roads and buildings 
constructed and maintained. Hence, a figure of $1 per acre for 
protection, administration and taxes seems conservative for 
American conditions. 

The total cost of growing timber per acre summing up all the 
items enumerated above is as follows: 



stujmpage prices 



217 





Years 




25 


SO 


75 


100 


150 


Land at Sio per acre 


$20 
20 
36 


$43 

43 

112 


$91 

272 


$192 
192 
607 


$842 


Regeneration at Sio per acre 


842 


Protection, administration and taxes .... 


2766 


Total 


$76 


$198 


$454 


$991 


$4450 







To determine the cost per M a uniform production of 500 board 
feet per acre per annum has been assumed. Hence, the following 
values hold at various age periods. 

PerM 

25 years $6 

50 years 8 

75 years 12 

100 years 20 

150 years 60 

That these figures are not far out of the way is shown by the 
fact that some of them have already been attained in parts of the 
United States. Three dollars a cord or $6 per M is not an un- 
usual stumpage price for accessible hardwood cordwood. Box- 
board material is selUng for over $8 per M in all the more accessible 
parts of the second growth white pine region of the northeast. 
In fact it is only the production costs of the larger material 
which have not already been equalled or surpassed. So far the 
supply of large virgin timber has been great enough to supply the 
demand for high grade lumber at much less than it will cost to 
grow it. Yet, abroad, many stands are being managed on rota- 
tion of 150 years or more so that it seems only a matter of time 
before the United States, too, will be doing the same thing. Or, 
stated in a little different form, our stumpage prices for cordwood 
and the lower grades of lumber have already gone about as high 
as they will in the older, better settled parts of the country. High 
grade softwood and hardwood on the other hand, are now selling 
for much below the cost of production and will advance rapidly 
as soon as the accessible virgin supplies are depleted. This 
statement refers simply to stumpage prices, not to lumber prices. 
They are governed by entirely different laws. Even a decided 



2i8 TIMBER VALUATION 

advance in the price of standing timber may produce only a 
slight increase in lumber prices because the cost of the latter is 
made up of many more elements than that of standing timber. 
Logging costs, milling, and. freight charges are the important 
factors and far outweigh stumpage prices in determining the 
market price of lumber. 



CHAPTER XXII 
LAND VALUATION 

While the value of the land itself has been practically negligible 
in the past in most sales of timbered lands, it is daily assuming a 
more important role. The days when a timberland owner could 
afford to throw the land away after he had cut off the merchant- 
able material are over. The land itself, even tho it is rough and 
stony, can be used for the production of other timber crops or 
selected portions devoted to tillage, residence purposes, etc. 
Then, too, few cuttings absolutely denude the ground. There is 
usually some young growth which will become merchantable 
within a short time. For these reasons every timberland owner 
is more or less interested in knowing how much his land is worth 
irrespective of the merchantable timber on it. 

The first step is to determine the area. Usually this is done in 
connection with the estimate of the timber and may vary in 
accuracy from the roughest kind of a guess to an accurate transit 
survey. Usually, however, a method midway between is chosen. 
Transit work is much too expensive except where the land values 
exceed $50 per acre which is seldom the case with woodland. The 
compass is the instrument most widely used in woods work 
because it is rapid and accurate enough if due care is taken in its 
use. Unlike the transit the adjustments are simple, it is quickly 
set up, stands hard service, and does not require much brushing 
or swamping. The commonest source of error is local attraction 
of the needle but this can be guarded against by back sighting. 
All in all it is the ideal instrument for the woodsman. For the 
rapid filling in of details a hand compass is sufficient, in deep 
soiled woods a larger instrument mounted on a Jacob's staff gives 
more accurate results, while on roads and rocky ground a tripod 
is handy. The only kind of woods work for which it is not 
adapted is rough mountainous regions where a few high points 
command the territory. There some form of planetable cuts 

219 



220 



LAND VALUATION 



down the expense because a network of triangulation can be built 
up which will locate the main features better than many miles 
of compass traverse. With this primary control as a basis the 
details can be readily filled in with the compass. 

To illustrate the methods used in the determination of the area 
of timbered tracts take the case of a loo acre lot as the first 
example. The simplest way to handle this would be to run a 
base line with a staff compass and chain along one side or on a 
convenient road or trail crossing it. Then the estimate strips 
could be run at regular intervals from this base line and at right 
angles to the principal streams. By recording the ridge tops and 
stream crossings on the estimate strips a very complete map may 
be made at very Httle expense in addition to the cost of the esti- 
mate itself. A larger tract of say 20,000 acres would be handled 
in exactly the same way except that greater pains should be taken 
to make sure that the framework, or primary control, was well 
fastened together. For this a compass would not be accurate 
enough. The best instrument would be a planetable with tele- 
scope aHdade so that either triangulation or traverses and stadia 
measurement could be employed. 

The relative accuracy and cost of the various methods of area 
determination may be summed up as follows: 



Method 



Transit and tape 

Transit and stadia 

Planetable and stadia 

Traverse board and chain. 
Staff compass and chain. . . 
Staff compass and pacing. . 
Traverse board and pacing 
Hand compass and pacing . 



Accuracy 


Acres per 
man hour 


Per cent 




100 


6 


98 


9 


98 


12 


95 


16 


95 


16 


92 


32 


90 


64 


90 


80 



Cost per 
acre 



Cents 
16 

12 

8 
6 
6 

3 
2 



While this Hst aims at completeness in enumerating the methods 
employed in woodland area determination this is not the place 
to describe each in detail. Surveying manuals like that of Breed 
and Hosmer should be consulted for such information. It is 
sufficient' for the immediate purpose to give some notion of their 



LAND VALUATION 221 

comparative accuracy and cost. A tract containing 640 acres 
was taken in making these calculations and a unit cost of $1 per 
man hour assumed. Hence the cost per acre would be too low 
for smaller tracts. These data will, of course, be most useful in 
determining which method will give sufficiently accurate results 
at the minimum cost under any given set of conditions. 

While the determination of the area is the step of first import- 
ance in valuing woodland it is far less perplexing than the deci- 
sion as to the uses to which the land can most profitably 
be devoted. The possibiUty of tillage is constantly recurring 
even with the roughest and stoniest tracts because tillage gives 
the highest and quickest returns and it is the use which has the 
sanction of longest usage. All land can be tilled if enough labor 
is put on it and the idea that there are soils which will give higher 
net returns when used in other ways makes headway very slowly. 
This explains why the lumberman tries first of all to dispose of 

|/ his cutover land to the farmer. Usually, however, there are only 
limited areas really fit for tillage in any large tract of timber. 
This is more particularly the case with the areas now covered with 
virgin timber, restricted as they are to the mountain regions and 
overflow lands. Few people realize how much good labor has 

L been thrown away clearing up land which is really unfit for tillage. 
The abandoned farms of New England and the " sand farms " 
of the Lake States cutover areas are cases in point. This does 
not mean, of course, that there are not level stretches reasonably 
free from stones even in the mountains which cannot be profitably 
tilled. It means simply that no area can be kept in good cultiva- 
tion unless it has more good soil than rocks and is not so steep 
that it will wash. Given these two fundamentals there are three 
other criteria by which it must be judged : 

1. Is it subject to destructive overflow? 

2. Has it good frost drainage? 

3. Are markets accessible? 

As has already been pointed out the overflow lands of the Mis- 
sissippi are much more profitable under tillage than those of the 
southeastern Atlantic States because the floods in the latter region 
come in the middle of the growing season. It is rather the time 



222 LAND VALUATION 

of flood than the actual height of the water that must be guarded 
against. Frost drainage is an exceedingly important point. 
Many mountain meadows could be made into wonderful garden 
spots were it not for the cold air which pours into them. But 
even granted that all other factors are favorable no land will be 
permanently remunerative under tillage unless it has ready access 
to markets. How near those markets must be and how smooth 
the intervening roads depends upon the products to be marketed. 
Cattle, for example, can be driven for distances and over roads 
that would be prohibitive for apples. All in all the experience in 
turning cutover land into farms has been so disappointing that 
the burden of proof should always be upon the would-be farmer 
to show that his use is the highest. In this connection it must 
be remembered that the returns from tillage are not so great as 
they are commonly painted by the real estate agent. Over a 
period of 25 years or more there are very few farms that give a 
net return of over 5 per cent. In fact the long time records of the 
Department of Agriculture show that 3 per cent is the average 
net income from farm land. The following figures are taken 
from such long time averages and give the net returns for some of 
the principal farm crops: 





Per acre per 






annum 




Com 


$7 Cotton 


10 


Wheat 


6 Potatoes 


7 


Oats 


4 Hay 


4 



As further substantiating this Bulletin 645, 1914, shows that the 
average gross farm value of the 13 principal crops of the United 
States was $16 an acre. This figure also holds good for Germany 
during the period from 1909 to 1913, while the net income was 
not quite $6 per acre.* 

If, however, there is a comparatively small percentage of the 
land in forested areas fit for tillage the other agricultural use of 
pasturage needs to be considered even more fully. Here again 
there is an inherited prejudice to combat. Our ancestors de- 
pended in such large measure upon grazing for their meat, milk 
and hides that one naturally thinks of it as a remunerative way 



LAND VALUATION 223 

to use land which is too rough for tillage. But the fundamental 
difficulty is that unless land is tilled at least occasionally it 
ceases to afford good grazing. It is only level land which has 
been comparatively recently turned over that will keep a cow 
per acre during the summer months. There must be no bare 
spots, stony patches, weed growth, or brush. But such land 
yields better under tillage so that the pasture lands are com- 
monly those which are too rough, stony or inaccessible to plow 
economically. Such fields require from 5 to 40 acres per cow 
per season depending upon the cHmatic conditions. Hence at 
$2 per cow per month the gross return will be from $2 per acre 
per annum to 25 cents. As a matter of fact the Government is 
getting less than 10 cents per acre, gross, for its western range 
lands. Perhaps it is not fair to bring these arid lands into the 
argument because forest land has invariably a moister cHmate. 
But it must be remembered that where trees grow well they 
crowd out grass so that even in the moist parts of the United 
States no pasture takes care of itself but becomes less and less 
remunerative every year unless time and money are spent keep- 
ing it up. In other words pasturing is an extensive use of land 
which seldom gives a net return of more than $1 per acre per 
annum. 

On every tract there are small areas which have special value 
for store, residence or water power purposes. Ideally, of course, 
these should be developed but it often happens that their fullest 
expansion calls for divided ownership or authority in a way that 
is sometimes difficult to manage. For example, a mountain lake 
may offer an ideal location for a sumimer hotel and be also valuable 
for hydroelectric water storage and log driving. Unless there is 
cordial cooperation among the interests concerned clashes of 
authority may arise. An unusually wise manager would be 
required to secure the necessary technical knowledge and yet 
coordinate the various activities. 

The various points which need consideration with reference to 
the use of land for store, residence, hotel or hydroelectric purposes 
are itemized in " The Outline for the Examination of a Timber 
* Forest Valuation. F. Roth. 1916. 



224 



LAND VALUATION 



Tract " given in the appendix. Those wishing to make such an 
examination or judge the quality of a report upon a tract are 
advised to consult it. 

The main points witn reference to mineral deposits that can 
be secured in a preUminary examination are also given in this 
outline. Of course, no forester should presume to make a final 
examination of coal, iron or other mineral deposits without call- 
ing in expert advice. But on the other hand the work of the min- 
ing expert can be greatly facilitated if he can have a good map of 
the tract and certain general information in regard to it before 
starting his field work. These data the forester's examination 
can secure at practically no additional expense. 

It is in general axiomatic that the best use to which timberland 
can be devoted is the production of crops of lumber or cord wood. 
While whatever is, is not always right, still the mere fact that a 
tract is forested indicates that there has been no urgent demand 
for it for agriculture, mining, etc. Furthermore, a change in 
kind of product must involve a revolution in the habits of the 
people who have been developing the tract and totally different 
kinds of technical skill in its administration. In other words, the 
presumption is always strong that a piece of woodland has been 
found by long experimentation to yield its highest returns in wood 
products or the by-product advantages derived from wooded 
areas. This is the task of the forester — to make over wild 
unregulated woods into forests giving their highest possible 
returns in lumber, cordwood, watershed protection and aesthetic 
values. 

But naturally forestry is more profitable under some condi- 
tions than others so that the next step is to examine briefly what 
factors determine the income from forests and how profitable the 
various types of woodland in the United States and its outlying 
possessions may be reasonably expected to become when devoted 
to growing forests. As has already been explained in the chapter 
on Timber Valuation the main item in the cost of producing tim- 
ber is not the labor or materials involved but the interest on 
the capital invested in the land and first cost of regeneration. 
It becomes necessary, therefore, to assume at the start an 



LAND VALUATION 22$ 

interest rate. The reasons for selecting 3 per cent have 
already been fully discussed, so that they need not be amplified 
here. Second in importance is the cost of the land itself and three 
values have been chosen, $5, $10 and $15 per acre, for this dis- 
cussion. The cost of regeneration is assumed to be $10 per acre 
and the annual charges for administration and protection, $1 per 
acre. Rotations of 50, 100 and 150 years will be considered and 
final yields of 250, 500 and 1000 board feet per acre per annum. 
A uniform stumpage price of $10 per M has been used in the cal- 
culations because it seems reasonable to assume that this will be 
an average figure for all species by the end of a rotation of 50 
years. Stumpage prices in the United States range from $1 to 
$20 per M with the average considerably under $10 but we are 
fast approaching European conditions where even low grade soft- 
wood is bringing $10 per M and high grade hardwood four or 
five times that. In this connection it is interesting to note that 
Kellogg and Zeigler came to the conclusion in 191 1 after a study 
of American growth and market conditions that $10 per M was 
a fair estimate of the average cost of timber production. No 
allowance was made for either returns from thinnings or accel- 
erated growth as a result of such thinning in order to have an 
ample margin with which to offset possible losses from fire, insects 
and fungi. That this margin is more than sufficient will appear 
clearly when it is considered that annual charges of 50 cents per 
acre are allowed for protection and administration. While this 
is not large as measured by European standards it is much greater 
than has yet been expended over any considerable area in the 
United States. The National Forests, for example, are admin- 
istered and protected for less than five cents per acre, but the 
Forest Service appropriation is so inadequate that only the 
merest beginning has been made. 

Three yields have been used, 250, 500 and 1000 board feet per 
annum. The first gives negative values even under the most 
favorable conditions so that the following typ>es may be ruled out 
at once as unremunerative from the standpoint of timber produc- 
tion: 



226 LAND VALUATION 

Northern swamp type. 

Southeastern ridge type. 

Chapparal type. 

Pinon-juniper type. 

Western yellow pine on semi-arid sites. 

While these types are too slow growing to make it worth while to 
raise timber on them they usually have secondary uses which 
justify their being kept wooded. 

An average yield of 500 board feet per annum includes a larger 
number of types. While this may seldom be found under virgin 
conditions in the following types it is obtainable under manage- 
ment: 

Northern spruce. 

Northern hardwoods. 

Cove. 

Slope. 

Southern pine. 

Western yellow pine on moist sites. 

Lodgepole pine. 

Engelmann spruce. 

Sugar pine. 

These lands will yield good returns with rotations of less than 
100 years. In other words, they can be profitably employed for 
the production of ties, pulpwood and boxboards but they will not 
grow large sized sawtimber. 

In fact it is only the types of timberland which will yield at 
the rate of 1000 board feet per acre per annum on which large sized 
sawtimber may be profitably grown. Fortunately these are 
scattered rather evenly thruout the United States. In the north- 
east there is the white pine type. The southeast has the overflow 
bottomlands. Only the Rocky Mountain region has too severe a 
climate to permit such rapid growth. In the Pacific northwest 
there are the silver pine, cedar flat, Douglas fir, and redwood 
types. 

The length of rotation is an exceedingly important item be- 



LAND VALUATION 



227 



cause it not only sets the period of interest accumulation but 
determines the final yield. Generally speaking it takes about 
50 years under favorable conditions to grow boxboards, pulp- 
wood and railway ties, 100 years to produce ordinary sawtimber, 
and 150 to 200 years are required for extra wide clear finishing 
lumber. Roth gives the following rotations for the principal 
European species: 

Pine and spruce 80 to 100 years in public forests. 

Pine and spruce 60 to 80 years in private forests. 

Balsam icxj years 

Beech 100 to 1 20 " 

Oak 150 to 200 " 

It is obvious, therefore, that types which cannot produce rail- 
way ties at least in loo years are hopelessly handicapped. Con- 
sequently the slower growing types such as the northern swamps, 
southern ridges, western yellow pine on semi-arid sites, chapparal 
and pinon-juniper types cannot justify themselves as wood pro- 
ducers no matter how long the rotation. Conversely, the types 
with rapid annual growth are not only the most productive for 
short rotations but are also the only ones that will pay dividends 
from timber production alone if left for over 100 years. 

Land values in forestry must obviously be low. Interest must 
run for long periods and high priced land would soon accumulate 
amounts of interest which even the most rapid growth could not 
offset. Furthermore it is fundamental that forests should be 
restricted to the low priced, stony, rough lands unfit for tillage. 
Therefore, the values used, $5, $10 and $15, err on the side of con- 
servatism rather than being too low. In this connection it is 
interesting to note that $15 per acre is the average value at which 
the British Reforestation Committee estimate — 19 18 — they 
can secure land in the British Isles. The purchases by the Federal 
Government under the Weeks Law have never exceeded $5 an 
acre for the land itself. The land value and the compound 
interest which it accumulates are not determining factors in 
deciding where forestry may be profitably practised. Any low 
priced land which has favorable climatic and soil conditions for 
rapid growth will give good returns if forested. 



228 LAND VALUATION 

The cost of regeneration is like the value of the land, an im- 
portant but not a determining factor. It must be considered not 
so much on account of the first cost as by reason of the accumu- 
lated interest in a long rotation. Naturally it varies within wide 
limits. Where artificial regeneration is necessary the cost per 
acre may easily exceed $15, but there are many, many instances 
in which natural regeneration may be relied upon for a satisfac- 
tory stand at a cost much less than would be required if the young 
trees were sown or planted. Ten dollars an acre, before the 
Great War, was an average figure for the cost of planting and it 
has been used in these calculations since it represents very fairly 
a mean between the sites where natural seeding will give good 
results and those less favorable sites which can only be regen- 
erated artificially. It is certainly fair to say that $10 an acre 
will secure a satisfactory reproduction in all stands where the 
climatic conditions are at all favorable to forest growth. 

Taking all the factors into consideration, both costs and 
receipts, it is evident that what determines the profit from forest 
investments is the yield. In other words, types in which the 
yield is below 500 board feet per acre cannot be expected to be 
kept forested unless the tree growth is valuable for other purposes 
than wood production. Or expressed differently, our sawtimber 
will in the future be produced in the following types: 

White pine. 

Southern bottomlands 

Silver pine. 

Redwood. 

Douglas fir. 

Cedar flats. 

For the production of ties, pulpwood and boxboards the following 
types in addition to those listed above are suitable under favor- 
able conditions: 

Northern hardwood. 

Northern spruce. 

Southern pine. 

Southern Appalachian coves. 



LAND VALUATION 229 

Southern Appalachian slopes. 
Western yellow pine on moist sites. 
Lodgepole pine. 
Engelmann spruce. 
Sugar pine. 

It will be noticed that these lists do not make any reference to the 
raising of large sized hardwoods. It is true that wide, clear 
boards of oak, ash, cherry, etc., cannot be grown profitably with 
a stumpage price of Sio per M. What has happened in Europe 
and will unquestionably happen here is that the stumpage prices 
of high grade hardwood will go above $10. For 200 year oak $50 
per M has been paid in Germany. 



CHAPTER XXni 
TITLES 

There are certain legal difficulties in securing sound titles to 
woodland tracts which make the subject of special interest to all 
woodland owners, present and prospective. Briefly stated these 
are due to two factors. In the first place woodlands in the 
United States have not been of great value in the past so that 
their owners have neglected to have them properly marked and 
described. In the second place, and of even more importance, 
the definition of acts of possession is vague so that there is no 
general agreement as to what an owner must have done to prove 
conclusively that he owns a tract. 

A tract of land may be marked in various ways. The com- 
monest method is by fences, either of rails, stones or wire. But 
large tracts of woodland are seldom fenced on account of the 
expense of fencing as compared with the advantages of preventing 
grazing. It is usually cheaper in a woodland grazing country to 
fence the relatively small areas of tilled and cleared land and let 
the stock roam at will. Should an owner desire to prevent graz- 
ing trespass in a community of this kind the entire burden of 
such an innovation would be upon him. His neighbors would 
give him neither legal protection nor sympathy. Such primitive 
communities think of the woods first of all as a common pasturing 
ground and cannot be expected to have developed a sense of pri- 
vate property rights in timberland. In fact the use of woodland 
for forest production is much more recent historically than the 
pasturage use and runs counter therefore to many inherited preju- 
dices dating back to the time when the woodlands were used in 
common for grazing and what little timber and firewood a primi- 
tive community needs. Even the development of private rights 
to the timber does not break down the feeHng of common owner- 
ship in pasturage. Consequently, it is rare that woodlands are 

230 



TITLES 231 

marked except by monuments at the lot corners and blazed lines 
in between the corners even aside from the expense of fencing. 
Unfortunately, too, these monuments are often of the flimsiest 
character and the blazes carelessly done and only renewed at 
rare intervals. 

As a result of the low regard for private interests in woodland 
the old descriptions are crude and hazy in the extreme. A grant 
of thousands of acres may be tied to " a white oak post situated 
on the ridge between " two creeks. When the post rots the tract 
is suspended in air. This has actually happened in many cases. 
For example, the Government's title to the famous Olmsted 
tract in North Carolina hung upon the location of a stake all 
traces of which had disappeared in 40 years. The testimony of 
local inhabitants as to where they had heard that it had been was 
the best evidence that could be found to relocate the starting 
point. Courses, too, may be as vague. Even when stated in 
degrees, and not vaguely as " westerly, northerly," etc., there is 
often grave reason for questioning the accuracy of the instrument 
used or the skill of the surveyor. Open sight staff compasses are 
the most accurate instruments usually employed in such work so 
.hat the declination and local attraction must always be con- 
:idered in determining the present beating from an old reading. 
•Vhat still further complicates the retracing of old descriptions is 
that the distances are frequently either vague or inaccurate, i.e., 
t ey may be given as approximately a fraction of a mile, measured 
01 the surface without allowance for slope, or so carelessly done 
tl '.t large errors have been made. As a consequence the areas 
g en for tracts of rough woodland are seldom within 10 per cent, 
a /ays the saving phrase " more or less," is added in stating the 
icrers^e. In fairness to the old surveyors it should, however, be 
. aid ihat the areas usually overrun. In other words, their esti- 
nat ai.d they are frequently little less, have the virtue of con- 
erva. mi. 

Not ling that has so far been said should be construed as advis- 
ing u idue accuracy in woodland surveying. The values per acre 
do not justify city survey methods. All that is needed is reason- 
able deli iteness in locating tie points, and reasonable accuracy 



232 



TITLES 



in measuring angles and distances. To make this more concrete 
every survey should be tied to a United States Geological Survey 
or United States Coast and Geodetic Survey bench mark, a 
General Land Office section corner, or a railroad, stream, or road 
crossing. Practically speaking these are the only points which 
are located with sufficient definiteness. As for the measurement 
of angles the compass is and will remain the most convenient 
instrument for woods work. It simply needs to be used with 
a recognition of its limitations. Distances may be measured by 
tape, stadia, chain or pacing, but they should always be reduced 
to the horizontal and the method employed stated. The map 
resulting from such field work should show all the principal 
streams, lakes, ponds, roads, trails and property lines. Prefer- 
ably it should also show the topography by contours. It is a 
great help, for example, to know what the slope is like near an 
important corner for which one is searching. 

The cost of such mapping varies, naturally, with the methods 
employed. The following data will be helpful in estimating such 
costs: 



Method 


No. in 
crew 


Cost of field work. 

Average daily 

wage including 

board 


Cost 
per 
day 


Miles 

in 

8 hours 


Cost 
per 
mile 


1. Transit and tape 

2. Transit and stadia 

3. Compass and chain 

4. Compass and pacing .... 


7 
5 
4 
2 


Per Day 

$4 
4l 
3l 
4 


$28 
22 

14 
8 


2 

3 
6 
8 


$14 
7l 

I 



The office work — drafting and area computation — would not 
be essentially different for the various methods and ought not to 
exceed one cent per acre. 

Expressed on an acreage basis the cost of such boundary sur- 
veys vary from one cent to one dollar per acre. The Federal 
Forest Service has been making transit and tape surveys of the 
lands purchased under the provisions of the Weeks Law for 23 
cents per acre in 1918 including the office work of map prepara- 
tion, area computation by latitudes and departures, and con- 
siderable legal investigation necessary to the determination of the 
location of the tracts to be surveyed. 



TITLES 233 

As already stated the question of determining the rightful 
claimant to a piece of woodland is much more difficult than in 
the case of farmland. A man who owns a farm either lives on it, 
rents it or manages it thru an agent. He must fence it, cultivate 
it and keep the buildings in repair. It is a matter of common 
knowledge who the real owner is. None of these acts of possession 
are necessary in the case of woodland. Even paying the taxes 
and cutting the timber have been held to be no sure indication 
of ownership. Nor should they be because many lots have been 
cut illegally and taxes have been paid in many cases merely to 
acquire color of title. For example, there have been a number of 
notorious cases of woodland theft in northern New England in 
which the title of the illegal claimant was based on a quit claim 
deed supported by tax receipts. The quit claim deeds were 
secured at a nominal figure from persons who had never seen the 
land, much less owned it. In order to cover up all traces of wrong 
doing and weaken the case of the rightful claimants the county 
records were often wilfully destroyed. The point of all this is, 
of course, that acts of possession have nowhere near the same 
force with reference to woodland as with other forms of real estate. 
It is, therefore, all the more necessary for the woodland owner to 
make sure that every proper act of possession is carefully put on 
record. This would mean filing a careful description and map 
in the County Clerk's Office, renewing the monuments and 
blazes, keeping up taxes, and curbing all forms of trespass. 

The mere fact that there is uncertainty as to what constitutes 
an " act of possession " with reference to woodland makes a title 
search all the more necessary. Both the owner and prospective 
purchaser need to know whether there are rival claimants, and 
this only a thoro search of the local legal records will give. The 
Department of Agriculture in its investigations of the titles offered 
for purchase under the provisions of the Weeks Law has set a 
standard for such work. They try to secure for each deed or 
mortgage the following information : 

1. Kind of conveyance, date, date and place recorded and 

volume and page. 

2. Name and address of vendor. 



234 TITLES 

3. Name and address of vendee. 

4. Consideration. 

5. Description. 

6. Reservations and limitations. 

7. Habendum. 

8. Covenants. 

9. Dower, curtesy and homestead rights 

10. Signature. 

11. Witnesses. 

1 2 . Acknowledgment. 

The marital status of the grantor should be ascertained where 
the state laws make it of material weight. For example, in most 
states no married man may give a valid deed without being 
joined therein by his wife. Deeds are, of course, filed in the 
County Recorder's Office at the county seat. 

The records of the probate court are also kept in the county 
court house, usually in conjunction with the deeds. These 
records differ somewhat depending upon whether the owner of 
land made his own will or died intestate. In the former case the 
following points should be covered in the title search: 

1. Execution of the will. 

2. Names of witnesses. 

3. Exact description of property devised. 

4. Name of each devisee. 

5. Date and location of probate. 

6. Notice to creditors and other interested parties. 

7. Proof of service. 

8. Final disposition of property. 

9. Discharge of administrator. 

Where no will was made and the probate court appointed an 
administrator the essential points to be noted are: 

1. Appointment and qualifications of administrator. 

2. Names of surviving relatives. 

3. Notice to creditors. 

4. Date and proof of service. 



TITLES 235 

5. Application for order of sale with date. 

6. Confirmation of sale with date. 

7. Discharge of administrator. 

Partition of estates by guardians or trustees present certain 
special points. These are Hsted below: 

1. Location (venue). 

2. Names of parties. 

3. Property described in petition. 

4. Notice and proof of service. 

5. Order of reference and report. 

6. Order of disposition. 

7. Final decree. 

Condemnation proceedings form part of the regular court 
records but the county recorder will be able to give anyone inter- 
ested access to the proper papers. The following points should 
be looked up: 

1. Location of proceedings (venue). 

2. Name of parties. 

3. Date of declaration or complaint. 

4. Cause of action. 

5. Date of service on defendant and kind of service. 

6. Date of answer and allegations therein. 

7. Material orders of court and final decree, with dates. 

8. Final disposition of case, with date. 

Data in regard to forced sales is kept by different officials in 
different parts of the country. In New England where the town 
is the unit of government the town clerk keeps the records of tax 
sales. In the other thirteen original states the county sheriff 
handles such executions while the United States Land Commis- 
sioner is the custodian of tax sale data in the land grant states. 

The final report, or abstract of title, should consist of a history 
of the title including a complete list of all owners or claimants for 
the period covered together with the opinion of the examining 
attorney as to its vaUdity. It would naturally be accompanied 



236 



TITLES 



by copies of all the papers examined in working up the case and 
maps which show not only the present boundaries of the tract 
but also the lots and grants of which it is composed. 

Anyone who has followed the discussion of titles so far must 
have been impressed with the great amount of local knowledge 
required. For this reason it is better to employ local attorneys 
and surveyors where they can be trusted to do the work with 
sufficient accuracy. Unfortunately, however, they are too often 
poorly trained so that a more skilled man must be employed to 
superintend their efforts. But local knowledge of the families, 
grants, lot lines and topography must be secured at whatever 
cost. The Federal Government has adopted the practice of secur- 
ing trained men by a civil service examination and then sending 
them directly out into the field to acquire local color. 

By all odds the most difficult titles to investigate are those of 
lands lying in the thirteen original states. Not only are these 
states older so that there have been a greater number of property 
transfers but, worst of all, the land subdivisions are poorly 
marked. Where the section a mile square is the unit and the 
land is divided into townships the process of description and 
identification is very much simplified. Compare, for example, 
the process of finding the SWjSec i5,Ti4NRi6W, Montana 
Principal Meridian, -with a tract 160 acres in extent and forming 
a part of a grant whose initial point established 100 years ago is 
a stake and stones on a ridge between two obscure creeks. For- 
tunately, even some of the original thirteen states adopted a 
lot system. This helps immensely even tho there may be no 
uniformity between states or parts of the same state as to the 
size of the lots and the direction of their boundary lines. But 
where the state land departments adopted a policy of selling any 
sized grant to any purchaser and put entirely upon him the bur- 
den of finding out whether there was any such unclaimed land, 
inextricable confusion arose. As has already been pointed out 
the land grants in certain parts of North Carolina are two or 
three deep. A man may have purchased a patent to 10,000 
acres but be unable to find more than 500 after all the prior 
patents are taken out. In general it may be said that land identi- 



TITLES 237 

fication, land description and title abstracting is easily five times 
as expensive in the thirteen original states as compared with 
work of the same quality in the states which are divided up into 
townships. Naturally the cost per acre varies ^vithin wide limits 
but it may be of interest to know that the title investigations on 
1,000,000 acres in Maine, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Caro- 
lina, South Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania cost the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture 17 cents per acre in 1918. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

OUTLINE FOR A REPORT ON A TRACT OF 
WOODLAND 

Summary and recommendations. 
Total amount and value of: 

Timber. 

Land. 

Other products (minerals, waterpower, residence sites, etc.). 
Grand total value. 
Total value per acre. 
Best future use of tract. 
Estimated annual returns. 
Total annual returns. 
Total annual returns per acre. 
Title complications. 

Object of examination. 
Valuation of tract. 
Formulation of logging plans. 

Preparation of a working plan for the future development of 
the property. 

Location, area and general description. 
Town (postofhce if different), county, state, watershed. 
Nearest railway and road. 
Area in acres (illustrate by map) . 

Form — scattered lots or contiguous tracts (illustrate by map) . 
Subdivisions — legal and natural (illustrate by map) . 
Climate. 
Total annual precipitation and mean annual temperature of 

nearest U. S. Weather Bureau station. 
Estimated annual precipitation and mean annual tempera- 
ture for tract. 

Frost drainage of tract. 

238 



FOR A REPORT ON A TRACT OF WOODLAND 239 

Topography (illustrate by a map) . 

Principal watersheds. 

Principal mountains or hills. 

Geological history of region. 

Geological map if possible. 

Distribution of soil types. 

Soil map if possible. 
Settlement (illustrate by map). 

Nearest towns or villages. 

Population per square mile of general region and particular 
being examined. 

Timber. 
Amount — total stand by species and subdivisions of tract 

(table). 
Quality and market value by species and products (table) 

Damage from fire, insects and fungi. 
Cost of logging and manufacture for market. 
Lumber — felling and bucking, brush disposal, skidding, 

hauling, milling, seasoning, seUing and profit. 
Other products — cost of steps in manufacture. 
Logging plan (illustrate by map) . 
Stumpage values by species and subdivisions. 

Table. 
Growth — best species; reproductive capacity; estimated 
yield per acre per annum in cubic feet and dollars, proba- 
bility of damage from fire, insects, fungi, trespass, etc. 

Land. 
Amount by quality classes (table) : 
Tillage land. 
Grazing land. 
Forest land. 
Areas suitable for other purposes. 

Hydroelectric purposes: 
Location of reservoirs, dams, power houses, etc. 
Estimated cost of development. 
Estimated horse power to be developed and its value. 



240 FOR A REPORT ON A TRACT OF WOODLAND 

Residences and stores: 
Number and location. 
Annual rentals. 

Recreation : 
Number and location of hotels. 
Estimated cost and returns. 
Fishing and hunting possibilities. 

Minerals: 

Kinds, quality, and approximate location. 
Development work on this and adjoining properties. 
Value by quality classes (table). 
Estimated returns per acre per annum from use for: 
Agriculture (tillage and grazing). 
Forest production. 
Hydroelectric purposes. 
Stores or residences. 

Recreation — hotels, fishing and hunting. 
Mining 

Titles. 
Legal history of tract. 
Kind of titles. 

Doubtful lots and their legal defects. 
Local authorities and witnesses : 

Attorneys. 

Surveyors. 

Guides. 

List of maps. — Maps can best be made on the same size paper 
as the rest of the report even if this necessitates making 
more maps or reducing the scale for special large area maps 
and using an enlarged scale for small area maps. Several 
maps of workable size are better than one large map which 
attempts to show all the essential features. What can be 
advantageously combined in one map differs from tract to 
tract but the tendency is always to try to economize and put 
too much on one map. 
Area, form and subdivision map. 



FOR A REPORT ON A TRACT OF WOODLAND 241 

Topographic map — preferably with contours, streams and 

ridges. 
Geological map — geological formations. 
Soil map — soil types. 
Settlement map — principal settlements, railroads, roads and 

trails. 
Timber type map. 
Timber stand map. 
Logging plan map — location of roads, drivable streams, 

camps, mill sites, etc. 
Land type map. 
Hydroelectric map — development plan showing reservoir and 

power-plant sites — detail maps of important features. 
Residence and store location map. 
Recreation map • — hotel sites, fishing and hunting grounds, 

trails, roads, etc. 
Mineral map — mineralized areas, development locations, 

trails, roads and railroads. 

Photographs should he taken to illustrate the following features: 
Topography. 
Geological structure. 
Settlement. 

Timber types, quality, damage, and growth. 
Logging developments — roads, camps, driving dams, mill 

sites, local logging methods and equipment. 
Land types — local agricultural methods and equipment. 

Hydroelectric development possibilities: 

Proposed reservoir and power sites. 
Residence and store locations and local types. 

Recreation possibilities: 

Hotel sites kinds of game and fish. 
Local mining developments. 

Diagrams illustrating the following points may often he employed to 
advantage: 
Cross sections of topographic features. 



242 FOR A REPORT ON A TRACT OF WOODLAND 

Geological structure. 

Relative timber growth by species and types. 
Relative value by timber species and types. 
Relative value of land types. 

Relative incomes and capital investment from various types of 
development. 



INDEX 



Alaska, climate, 138 

forest distribution, 138 

coast forests, 139 

interior, 141 

timber values, 142 

land values, 145 

titles, 147 
Alder, 43 

Arborvitae (white cedar), 48, 50, 176, 187 
Ash, white, 21, 23, 27, 61, 63, 65, 169, 

171, 176 
Ash, red, 30 
Aspen, 41, loi, 102 
Balsam, eastern, i, 18, 21, 27 
Balsam, western, 134. See also Fir 
Basswood, 18, 21, 23, 27, 176 
Beech, 18, 21, 23, 27, 34, 176 
Birch, black, cherry, 18, 21, 27, 34, 43 
Birch, gray, 30, 31, 34, 43 
Birch, paper, i, 18, 21, 27 
Birch, white, 139, 141 
Birch, yellow, 18, 21, 23, 27 
Bottomlands, southern, distribution, 61 

subtypes, 63 

damage, 63 

growth, 63 

timber valuation, 64 

land values, 69 

titles, 70 
Braniff, E. A., 171 
Bryant, R. C, 178, 184 
Butler, O. M., 201 
Butternut, 34, 42 
Canal Zone, V 

Cedar, incense, 114, 118, 119, 120 
Cedar, eastern red, 75, 76. 176 
Cedar, western red, 104, 106, 109, 130, 
131, 132, 133, 136, 139, 141, 143, 
176, 178, 186, 188 



Cedar, West Indian, 150, 158, 170 

Cedar, white (see arborvitae) 

Cedar, yellow, 139, 143 

Chapparal type, 84 

Charcoal, 43 

Cherry, black, 79, 176 

Cherry, pin, 19 

Chestnut, 21, 27, 73, 176 

Cooperage, 44, 174 

Cordwood, 26, 38, 50, 82, 85, 170, 173, 

194 
Corkwood, 15 
Cottonwood, 61, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 139, 

140 
Cucumber tree, 73 
Cypress, eastern, 66, 176 
Cypress, Lawson, 130, 133, 136 
Ebony, 151, 158, 176 
Ehn, 23, 34, 45 
Estimating, methods and costs, 4, 19, 

36, 64, 152, 163-166 
Extract wood, 173, 196 
Fernow, B. E., 209 
Fir, alpine, 89, 95, 100, loi 
Fir, amabihs, 131 
Fir, Douglas, distribution, 129 

associates, 130 

growth, 131 

timber valuation, 131 

land values, 136 

titles, 137 
Fir, grand, 131 
Fir, white, 114, 115, 118, 119, 120, 125, 

128 
Fisher, R. T., 124 
Frothingham, E. H., 25, 40 
Graves, H. S., 22 
Gum, red, 66, 176 
Gum,tupelo, 67, 176 



243 



244 



INDEX 



Hardwoods, northern, distribution, i6 

subtypes, i8 

damage, 19 

growth, 19 

estimating cost, 19 

uses, 21, 26 

logging, 25 

milling, 25 

sale values, 27 

stumpage prices, 27 

land values, 27 

titles, 28 
Hardwoods, southern, distribution, 71 

types and subtypes, 73 

damage, 74 

growth, 75 

timber valuation, 76 

land values, 80 

titles, 8r 
Hawaii, V 

Hawley and Hawes, 6, 22 
Hemlock, black, 140 
Hemlock, eastern, 18, 21, 27, 34, 40, 177 
Hemlock, western, 104, 106, no, 124, 

125, 131, 132, 133, 136, 143, 144 
Hickory, 176 

Shagbark, 34, 42 
Hopkins, A. D., 75 
Hubert, E. E., 106 
Juniper, 81, 83, 89 
Kellogg, R. S., 141, 225 
Land valuation, area determination, 219 

agricultural use, 221 

grazing use, 222 

misc. uses, 223 

forestry use, 224 
Larch, eastern (tamarack), 48 
Larch, western, 134 
Larch, western, 89, 95, 100, 131, 134, 

136, 166, 176 
Larsen, L. T., 171 
Laths, 169, 173 
Lignum vitae, 61, 151 
Locust, black, 75, 79 
Logwood, 151 
Lumber, prices, VI, 177 

grades, 169-172 

logging costs, 184 



Lumber, milling costs, 192 

markets, 207 

cost of growing, 213 
Mahogany, 61, 79, 150, 154, 158, 170, 

175, 176 
Mangrove, 149, 152, 156, 159 
Maple, 176 

hard, 18, 21, 23, 27 

soft, 21, 27, 50 
Munger, T. T., 89, 91 
Murphy, L. S., 149 
Oak, 44 

black, 31, 75, 176 

chestnut, 74 

live, 61, 65, 69 

red, 18, 21, 27, 34, 176 

tanbark, 125 

white, 18, 21, 34, 176 
Padouk, 154 
Philippines, forest distribution, 152 

dipterocarp types, 153 

molave type, 155 

mangrove type, 156 

pine type, 156 

beach t3^e, 156 

mossy type, 157 

timber values, 157 

land values, 160 

land titles, 162 
Pine, bristle cone, 99 
Pine, Cuban, 54, 57 
Pine, eastern white, distribution, 18, 29 

subtj^es, 30 

damage, 32 

growth, 34 

estimating cost, 36 

uses, 21 

grades, 38 

logging, 38 

milling, 39 

stumpage prices, 37 

land values, 46 

titles, 47 
Pine, JeS^rey, 114 
Pine, jack, 30, 31 
Pine, timber, 99 
Pine, lodgepole, distribution, 95 

growth, 95 



INDEX 



245 



Pine, lodgepole, timber values, 97 

land values, 98 

titles, 98 
Pine, pitch, 30, 31, 54 
Pine, pond, 54 
Pine, red, 30, 34, 36 
Pine, scrub, 54, 55, 76 
Pine, short leaf, 54, 74, 78 
Pine, silver, distribution, 104 

associates, 104 

growth, 106 

damage, 106 

timber values, 106 

land values, no 

titles. III 
Pine, slash, 55, 56, 57 
Pine, southern type, distribution, 52 

subtypes, 53 

damage, 54 

growth, 55 

estimating costs, 56 

stumpage prices, 57 

uses, 57 

grades, 57 

logging, 38 

land values, 59 

titles, 60 
Pine, sugar, distribution, 112 

associates, 114 

growth, IIS 

damage, 115 

timber values, 116 

land values, 120 

titles, 121 
Pine, western yellow, distribution, 87 

damage, 89 

growth, 90 

timber valuation, 91 

land values, 93 

titles, 94 
Pine, white bark, 95 
Pinon and juniper type, distribution, 81 

growth, 82 

timber values, 82 

land values, 82 

titles, 83 
Poplar, yellow, 79, 176 
Plummer, F. G., 85 



Poles, so, 109, 170, 173, 196 
Porto Rico, climate, 148 

forest distribution, 149 
Posts, so, 197 

Pulpwood, 10, 170, 173, 196 
Redwood, distribution, 122 

associates, 124 

growth, I2S 

timber values, 125 

land values, 126 

titles, 127 
Reports, outline for, 238 
Roth, F., 223 
Rubber, 159 
Schenck, C. A., 203 
Sequoia, 128 
Shingles, 109, 169, 173 
Spruce, black, 139, 140, 141 
Spruce, Colorado blue, 99 
Spruce, Engelmann, distribution, 99 

associated species, 99 

growth, 100 

timber values, 100 

land values, 102 

titles, 103 
Spruce, northern, distribution, i, 18 

associated species, i 

damage, 2 

growth, 4 

estimating 4 

stumpage prices, 6, 12 

uses, 10, 21 

grades of lumber, 10 

logging, 8 

milling, 10 

land values, 13 

titles, 13 
Spruce, Sitka, 124, 125, 130, 131, 133, 

136, 139, 141, 143, 144, 189 
Spruce, white, 139, 140, 141, 187 
Swamp tjT^e, distribution, 48 

subtypes, 48 

damage, 49 

growth, 49 

estimating cost, 49 

stumpage prices, 50 

uses, 50 

land values, 51 



246 



INDEX 



Swamp type, titles, 51 

Tamarack, Alaskan, 139 

Tamarack, eastern, 48, 50 

Tanbark, 41, 170, 196 

Teak, 155 

Ties, 45, 50, 97, 170, 173, 196 

Timber valuation, estimating, 163 

quality of timber, 166 

sale values, 168 

logging costs for timber, 184 

cost of logging and manufacturing 
other products, 194 

profit, 197 



Timber Valuation, freight charges, 2cx> 

stumpage prices, 204 
Titles, marking forest land, 230 

boundary surveys, 231 

investigations of title, 233 
Turpentine, 56, 91 
Walnut, black, 42, 77, 171, 176 
Weir, J. R., 106 
Whitford, H. N., 159 
Willow, 43 
Wood alcohol, 173 
Zeigler, E. A., 225 



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